Sound of Flames
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: When Sakura Sawada is sealed, there is an unintended consequence that not even the Vongola could have predicted. Fortunately, she attracts a very protective Cloud to keep her safe from those who wouldn't understand her pain. Being blind is no fun, but that doesn't mean she's helpless. You don't always need to see for your heart to reach others. FemTsuna
1. Chapter 1

When she was five, something terrible happened. She didn't remember what exactly was done to her, but the aftermath was impossible to miss.

Sakura Sawada used to be a bright cheerful girl who loved being around people.

After that day, she never saw the sky again. In fact, she never saw much of anything after that.

The first clue Nana had that something was terribly wrong with her daughter came less than a week after her husband brought the "kindly" old man to their home along with his guards. She asked Sakura to bring her something from the kitchen...only to find her little girl looking around in a daze with her eyes unable to focus properly.

It only got worse from there. Within a month, Nana was given the grim prognosis from the doctors, all of whom said the same thing.

Physically, there was nothing wrong with her child. However it was very clear that Sakura had suffered some form of trauma...the result of which was that her mind shut down the parts of her mind that controlled her ability to see. Her child was declared legally blind at the young age of five years and four months from psychosomatic trauma.

With luck and a lot of love and care, Sakura _might_ be able to regain her sight again...but that was a big if. After all, the little girl's mind prevented her from remembering what caused the issue, and the adults were unwilling to force her to remember for fear of making it worse.

Nana cried herself to sleep while hugging her child tightly for weeks after hearing the news.

With time, Sakura learned to adjust to her new situation. She was young, and while her sight was gone her personality seemed more of a shell of what it had been before.

* * *

Sakura was crying. While she had learned to adjust to her situation, that didn't mean her classmates understood or accepted it.

Some of the meaner girls had grabbed her and shoved her into a locked room...one that was right next to a really loud machine that was sending her poor ears into sensory overload. She found it easier to get around by using her hearing.

Hearing the door slam open, she flinched from the noise.

A callused hand about the same size of her own grabbed her. She whimpered, before it loosened a bit and became much gentler.

"Small herbivore, I won't hurt you," said a voice.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, not that it really mattered.

Except she saw something. It was so warm and protective, yet aloof. Like the clouds she was starting to forget. The violet color was so very bright that when she felt the other child, a boy from the voice, take her hand, she gently squeezed it.

Feeling that gentle hand ruffle her hair, she relaxed. She was safe, protected. This person wouldn't hurt her.

She followed the boy out of the room, keeping close to him until she heard the familiar voice of her mother.

"Sakura!"

"Wao. You'll be fine now little bird."

Her mother hugged her tightly, thanking the little boy... Kyouya-kun... for finding her missing child.

It wouldn't be the first time Kyouya would be sent to find her.

"Wao. Little bird, did you get lost again?" asked Kyouya. His voice was uncharacteristically gentle around her, unlike others. His voice would grow hard and almost bloodthirsty if he was talking to anyone else.

She nodded shyly. Since losing her sight, she had become more introverted and not very outgoing. Having to adjust to 'seeing' with only her sense of hearing made her scared. Kyouya didn't complain, didn't take the fact she instinctively sought him out once she got lost in the mall out on her.

Instead he gently took her hand and started to look for her mother. She flinched whenever they got too close to crowds... she learned that loud noises _hurt_ and nothing was louder than a large group of adults. Especially girls.

Fortunately Kyouya didn't like crowds much either. He lead her far away from the large groupings of adults and to someplace much quieter. Within half an hour her mother found them, and she was openly relieved to see Kyouya with her child.

The boy was supposedly very violent towards others...but he was kind to her child and that was all that mattered.

Considering Sakura seemed to instinctively seek out the older boy, Nana made a decision. She gave Kyouya her phone number, which he accepted with a great deal of maturity.

Apparently he had noticed the girl had a sixth sense for finding him in a crowd. Oddly, he didn't seem to mind. It was hard to feel like she was crowding him, especially considering she couldn't see.

She felt more like a little bird who had her wings cruelly clipped too young, and now was denied the freedom to fly. She could hop around and walk, but the Sky was out of her reach.

Nana had clearly entrusted the safety of the little bird to him. And Kyouya would not fail in keeping her safe. After all...she was his to care for.

* * *

 _Sakura, age seven..._

Kyouya was in a bad mood today. Someone from his mother's family was supposed to be visiting, and Sakura's mother had recently gotten a letter from someone that her Mama was really mad at. She didn't want Sakura to stay in the house while he was there, but she had no friends to spend a few nights with.

Predictably, Kyouya found her within an hour and demanded to know why she was unhappy. Mostly because that generally meant several fools would soon be bitten to death in short order for bothering his little bird.

"You have unwanted family coming into town too?" said Kyouya, translating her quiet explanation.

Sakura nodded, her eyes as unfocused as ever. She had long since acquired a reputation among the children as being something of a "ditzy airhead who was always humming" and some of the adults who didn't know of her condition spoke of her being "not all there in the head". Needless to say Kyouya took great pleasure in disciplining anyone who was foolish enough to voice such things in his hearing. Or the hearing of his quickly growing force of almost-carnivores who had submitted to his rule.

The group quickly learned certain rules that were absolute.

One: when presenting reports do it in small groups of less than three.

Two: do not interrupt Kyouya while napping.

Three: Sakura-hime was to be protected or else, and if she was lost was to be directed immediately to her mother or Kyouya if found.

Anyone who didn't abide by those rules was bitten to death in short order.

Kyouya thought it over, before calling Sakura's mother. Within minutes she had a bag packed and was quietly shuffled off to Kyouya's house. Partly to keep her far, far away from Iemitsu, her so-called "Father", but also to act as a buffer between Kyouya and the one member of the family he could never intimidate or bite to death for getting on his nerves.

His grandfather, Fon.

Fon was strange, in Sakura's opinion. He felt like an adult and his 'fire' was a really pretty color that felt like an oncoming storm, one of the big ones.

Kyouya gently corrected where she looked, and she found that while she was looking up to where the red fire was centered, the real thing was much shorter. He was smaller than she was and rather amused at her reaction to him.

"Who is this adorable young lady?" asked Fon gently in Japanese.

Sakura blinked, before a shy smile came onto her face. Fon sounded kind, and the fire was gentle and warm. Like Kyouya.

"Sakura. Sawada Sakura," she said shyly, holding Kyouya's hand tightly. Kyouya grasped it a little tighter, letting her know he was there and would stay that way as long as she needed.

Fon watched the interaction with open interest.

"Well Sakura-san, it's nice to meet you. I'm Kyouya's favorite grandfather Fon."

Sakura giggled when Kyouya growled something under his breath about "annoying pint-sized carnivores".

Fon seemed to find her endlessly fascinating, and to the ire of Kyouya spent the majority of Iemitsu's visit with her...and by extension his grandson. Unfortunately for Kyouya, Sakura seemed just as fascinated with him and his pet monkey Lichi.

And then Kyouya's temper snapped. Like a brittle twig. With a loud snarl he grabbed his tonfa and went after Fon. The small man smirked and humored his grandson, though he didn't allow the younger boy to get the upper hand. If Kyouya beat him, he will have to earn it honestly.

Sakura, rather than feel afraid or alarmed by the sudden violence, "watched" entranced at the way the purple and red flames danced, almost like it was choreographed.

"So pretty...it's like dancing!" she said when Fon beat Kyouya.

Fon blinked, before a sly smile came upon his face.

"In a way it is a lot like dancing," he agreed. "Would you like to learn?"

Sakura blinked. Kyouya growled menacingly.

"Hands off my little bird you damn carnivore," snarled Kyouya.

"Come now Kyouya-kun. Surely it wouldn't hurt to let your...friend... learn how to defend herself," said Fon smiling.

It was clear Kyouya wasn't happy about the idea...but reluctantly agreed to let his "little bird" learn to fight. However he quickly vetoed anything like a sword or had sharp blades.

Though even Kyouya was caught off guard when Sakura turned out to be a natural at using a staff to fight. Bojutsu wasn't exactly a well practiced art anymore, what with guns becoming so prevalent these days, but considering Sakura was still blind and was still struggling to learn how to use her cane (half the time she completely forgot to bring it with her, and was still working on getting around solely based on what could only be echo-location) perhaps it wasn't that surprising at all.

And if Kyouya's grin was extra vicious as he realized his little bird could possibly be a hawk or other predatory creature in chick form... well, Fon certainly didn't comment on it.

Even if he was privately making bets with his daughter over when Kyouya would realize his obvious crush on the adorable little ball of fluff that was Sakura Sawada. Seriously, her smiles could be weaponized if she ever figured out how to pull it off.

* * *

Sakura tilted her head when she heard the odd sound that was completely out of place in her room. Today was White Day, and Kyouya had said he would reciprocate her home made chocolate that she had made with a lot of help from her mother.

Even if she would never be allowed near a kitchen alone until she could correctly identify spices by scent and learned how to use a knife without risking her health...she had been more or less banned from Home Economics class along with most of PE.

Considering she had just sat down on her bed and heard it, it took a few minutes of groping before her hand bumped into the anomaly and the sound rang in hear ears again. It was quiet, and really pretty.

She gave it an experimental shake, and her face widened into a smile as she identified the sound.

It was the tinkling of bells.

She slowly opened the box and her hands touched something metal, with small bells all around the edge of it. It took her a second to register it was a bracelet.

She slipped it on and gave it another shake. The little chimes of the bells on the metal was ridiculously soothing. And more than that, it worked perfectly with her hard-won ability to walk around without making a fool of herself without using that stupid cane that the adults insisted she use.

Dogs were too disruptive and Kyouya wasn't a fan of them unless they were wolves. And she had enough torment from the meaner children who thought it hilarious to take the cane she carried in her bag and hide it so she would stumble around.

They didn't understand why she couldn't see, just that it meant she was an easier target than before so long as Kyouya didn't find out.

Hence why she had to learn how to manage simply by using her hearing. Humming helped, but it made the other children and some of the meaner adults think she was scatterbrained and she wasn't allowed to do it when things got too loud. She could tap her shoes, because upon realizing what her daughter was doing her mother had started buying special ones that had metal in the soles that were mainly used for something called "tap dancing" which was really a lot of fun because she liked listening to the rhythm of the dance when her mother bought a video of it. However that was restricted to outside school, because she had to wear the same slippers as everyone else.

A bracelet, however... that was the perfect solution because she just had to give her arm a little shake to make the bells tinkle quietly without being a nuisance.

After all, the teachers couldn't yell at her for moving her arm. And she knew the other children wore jewelry, as some of the girls had loudly discussed piercing their ears.

Sakura smiled. And then she found the note.

Kyou-chan was really sweet, and his grandfather Fon was really interesting.

Fon was one of the rare people who didn't automatically treat her like an invalid the second he found out she was blind. Instead, he trained her in how to fight and become independent in her own way. Her mother had been alarmed...for all of five minutes...when she found out her child was learning how to hit people with a staff that could easily double as her cane.

Right up until she saw the smile on Sakura's face, because for the first time since losing her sight she felt completely free. She might stumble and fall, but learning how to defend herself gave her a sense of accomplishment that she had lost.

And really, the way Fon taught her to fight felt more like dancing than fighting.

 _To my Little Bird_

 _This is so you can see your way around and be able to locate people who need to be 'danced' to death. I better not have to send any more search parties because you got lost after this._

 _Kyouya_

Sakura giggled and listened to the tinkling of the bells.

"Sakura, dinner!"

Sakura used the sound from her new bracelet to find the door...it came much easier than before since she could focus on the quiet sound they made.

And then came the real test of the bracelet, as Nana went to turn on the stereo so Sakura could navigate the room easier. After she had mastered the ability to 'see' with sound, music was always playing at just the right volume level in the home until it was time for bed. It didn't matter what genre it was (though some Sakura or Kyouya vetoed outright for being painful to listen too, like heavy metal) music would play softly in the background.

One second there was silence, the next the stereo was blaring because Nana's hand hit the wrong nob. Sakura yelped, before she heard the soothing sound of the bells on her wrist. She immediately concentrated on that sound rather than the blaring sound of the stereo.

Nana quickly turned it down, a hand to her heart. That had been a real shock.

Immediately she checked on Sakura, only to find her child shaking her right wrist so that the bells on her new bracelet consistently made noise. Once assured that the music was at a much more tolerable volume level, Nana served dinner.

Kyouya truly knew the perfect gift for Sakura. Normally she would have been sent straight to the living room where she would try to muffle the overbearing sound with pillows, and Nana would have to talk her down from a sensory overload induced panic attack.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura was about to turn fifteen this year, and she couldn't wait. For a long time she had been in darkness, but that was okay. She was used to it by this point and had a system in place for any problem that regularly cropped up.

She didn't care if she was more or less alone in her class. So long as she had Kyou-kun she could live with it.

Even if she really didn't like the school very much. With the introduction of hormones and a new school, she found herself having to deal with the stupidity of the herbivores on more than one occasion.

From the students all the way to the teachers, those that thought to crowd together and go after her because she was an "air head" and an "easy target" in the eyes of the weaker and more stupid herbivores soon found the error of their ways.

Kyouya's Disciplinary Committee was very protective of their "Sakura-Hime", if for no other reason than for the fact she was the _only_ person who could talk the terrifying teen down from biting someone to death. Well that and her rather strong effect of turning people into her allies purely by smiling at them.

"Sakura, time for breakfast!" said her mother loud enough to be heard over the music.

She had no idea of the flier her mother found in the mail box. If she had, she would have been very unhappy about it, for it would end up bringing her right into the path of Iemitsu Sawada and his actions.

* * *

 _Reborn POV..._

Sakura Sawada was a slightly introverted girl who had a fascination with sound, was noted to have a rather 'air headed' personality that had likely been inherited from her mother and was the 'Princess' of the Disciplinary Committee, an admittedly well organized group of delinquents that could easily pass for a budding Familigia if their leader ever bothered to consider the idea.

In short, it was up for some major debate on whether the girl was even Decimo material. Except because of some spectacularly bad luck with the previous candidates, she was the _only_ one alive left to take the post. Which meant he had been sent to tutor her in her inevitable duty to the Family whether she agreed or not.

He had to wonder why she wore so many bells on her though.

The file Iemitsu had of his own daughter was disturbingly thin. And there wasn't even a proper photo of the girl, as for some reason Nana had filed and successfully divorced her husband before Sakura was ten, and won sole custody of her daughter and the titles to the house and a decent sum of money to pay for the upkeep.

Apparently someone had managed to slip those particular papers into a rather large stack that Iemitsu signed without looking at before continuing on.

Lal had seen them, and had in fact been the one to send the official documents back, but according to the rumors in the Vongola and CEDEF it was assumed Iemitsu had gotten tired of pretending he actually gave a damn about his civilian family in the first place and was willing to let his now ex-wife live her own life with their daughter.

There was another rumor Reborn was more inclined to believe... that Iemitsu hadn't known he had signed the divorce and custody papers in the first place. The man was rather ignorant and it would definitely explain why he still pretended to make 'regular' visits to Namimori to visit his family.

Watching the girl walk, he heard the distinct sound of what could only be tap-dancing shoes. Though why someone would wear such things for daily wear instead of just to practice or dance with, he had no idea.

The more he observed Sakura, the more he realized there was something instinctively...off... about her. Like the fact she wore ear plugs to some of the classes, had a habit of twitching her arm to cause the bells on her bracelet to make a little bit of sound that the others ignored, or that she openly ignored everyone unless they had the black armband of the Disciplinary Committee.

All of whom would openly call her "Hime" in full view of the other students, most of whom would either avoid her or glare at a distance. The fact she wore a white armband with black trim proudly declaring her a member of the same group didn't really make sense. Unless it was the standard color for the females in the group.

(He later observed that yes, it was standard for the girls to wear white, likely to emulate their princess. Even if there were only three or four actual girls who were in the committee and only Sakura was still in high school.)

The one thing that baffled him the most was the fact that after school Sakura didn't do any actual paperwork...instead one of the boys from the committee would take the homework assignment of the day and read it out loud for her...and she would answer the questions into a computer set up with a voice recognition software. Once finished she printed two copies of it before putting them into separate folders.

Then one of the older teens made a point of walking her home, keeping a close distance to her.

It was a very efficient set up, and he fully approved considering it was more effective than anything Iemitsu bothered to create.

Clearly the Cloud kid had a handle on protecting those in his territory, and considering the girl was a sealed Sky, all they would need was one good crack in the seal and she'd have her first Guardian.

At least he wouldn't have to create a guard detail around her from scratch. And the teens looked more competent than what his last student had...which considering he was comparing a group of semi-organized delinquents to an established Familigia was pretty damn sad.

So as the girl settled into the home, which had some very pleasant classical music playing throughout the house, he waited for her mother to enter before he broke in and gave his greeting.

"Ciaossu."

Sakura stared, or at least he thought she was. Her eyes were focused on the wrong place for a few moments before they automatically adjusted to his current height.

Oddly, the way her head was angled would have put her about roughly the same area as his original height before he was cursed.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Reborn. I'm your new home tutor," he said calmly.

Nana to her credit blinked.

"You certainly came fast, considering I only called you this morning," she said suspiciously.

Another oddity. Her file firmly stated she was a bit of a ditz lost in her own little world and generally didn't pick up on the little things. Yet here she was, clearly suspicious about how quickly he arrived when she called.

The feeling that there was something else going on, something that could make or break Sakura's candidacy as Decimo was only getting worse. And he had the distinct feeling he definitely wouldn't like hearing why she felt so off.

"Well I was sent here deliberately to teach her on someone's orders," said Reborn cryptically. And, just in case this would earn some brownie points, he quickly added "And it wasn't Iemitsu. He doesn't have the authority to send me."

Nana blinked, before her face schooled itself into something a bit more neutral.

She didn't trust him, but she was willing to let him stay for the moment.

Reborn looked at the list of "rules" for the house and had to raise an eyebrow. These were some very specific and somewhat odd rules for a civilian house.

Like the one about the music... apparently it was to be played at all times, but not so high that you disturbed the neighbors. Certain genres were banned, but you were free to pick whatever you liked to listen to so long as something was playing. Another had him really wondering what was going on, because it stated outright that Sakura was to be escorted to anywhere with large crowds or loud noises, and that any homework she had to do was to be read aloud.

Which really begged the question of "WHY?" in his head that he felt needed to be answered immediately.

* * *

Reborn waited for Nana to be outside the house running errands before testing one of the rules when Sakura was sculpting something made out of clay in the living room.

Apparently she was a bit of an artist, because there was a lot of modeling clay in the spare bedroom which was converted into something of an artist's studio.

He'd swear he saw a clay statue of Fon in his cursed form sitting somewhere, which was surprisingly accurate down to the clothes and pacifier. It was so accurate if it had been painted the right way he'd think the Storm was in the house.

Without any warning, Reborn deliberately turned the volume up to a rather loud level for five seconds.

Sakura openly flinched, grabbed some of the pillows and immediately covered her ears the second it went up. She was openly shaking, as if the high volume pained her greatly.

Once the volume went down, Reborn waited to see her response. It took a few moments for her to verify he wasn't about to do that a second time before she looked at him.

It was the eyes that bothered him. Most people would glare at him, or at least have some expression when they stared like that. Her eyes were empty, in a way that couldn't be natural.

For one thing the room was rather bright and yet they weren't dilated at all. No one's eyes should be that unfocused.

"Please don't do that again," she asked quietly, once her breathing evened out.

Reborn said nothing, but now he was openly concerned. He levitated off the counter before making his way over to where she went back to the sculpture she was making. Which if he squinted looked disturbingly like what he used to look like before the curse. At least the form anyway... it was still too rough to tell.

He tried waving his hand in front of her eyes, as if to confirm his suspicion...she blinked but said nothing.

The next morning while she was at school, he broke into her records. And what he found had him even more suspicious.

There were certain "red flags" in her file, ones that didn't speak of anything good.

For one thing, all of her homework was allowed to be printed and her tests had to be done separately under the supervision of certain teachers. According to this, the tests would have to be spoken aloud for some unknown reason.

Another alarming fact was that there was an actual note in her file stating without any doubts on the matter that she was allowed to wearing the noisy jewelry regardless of what class she was in, and that if she was found without them on she was to be taken immediately to the Disciplinary Committee's room or to find Hibari Kyouya.

Her grades were average, or slightly above average in certain areas. Some of them had dropped, but there were notations about "difficult teachers" who apparently didn't believe in the memo or care to deal with any special treatment.

She was automatically exempt from home economics and certain physical activities like swimming. There was no notes on why, just that she was allowed to sit out of physical education if she wished.

All of this was starting to add up into something Reborn didn't like, and it was something Iemitsu _should_ have picked up on years ago.

If he was right, then it explained why Nana was a lot more attentive than her file claimed and why she had gone so far as to divorce the idiot and file for sole custody of her daughter.

It looked like he would have to bring the Storm kid in a lot sooner than he originally planned, if only to get to the bottom of the mystery.

* * *

Sakura barely paid any mind to the new transfer... though she could feel some sort of animosity towards her for some reason.

Her confusion was openly evident when Reborn directed her to one of the lesser used areas of the school where the committee wouldn't reach for at least five minutes.

She openly flinched when she 'saw' the bombs in his hands and reacted on instinct.

"Don't!" she said in a half-whisper, half-shout. If he set those off so close to her, it was sure to be extra painful.

"Tch, pathetic! How could an air head like you become Decimo!"

Sakura flinched, the bells on her wrist jingling merry.

"If you want to survive, you'll have to fight," said Reborn calmly.

"What? Why?" said Sakura in a horrified squeak.

"The strong rule and the weak die. That is the way of the mafia," said Reborn unconcerned.

Sakura looked in Hayato's general direction, before a strange sense of calm seemed to overcome her.

"If I beat him will he quit bringing his explosives to school?"

"You beat him, he becomes your subordinate. Loser serves the winner is also the mafia way," said Reborn.

"Then I apologize in advance, but if you're going to be using explosives then I have no choice but to dance you to death," she said in an odd tone.

"What could dancing do?" scoffed Hayato, already lighting up a cigarette.

"On second thought, maybe you could benefit from a few broken bones," she said darkly, nose twitching from the smell of his cigarette and annoyance clear in her face. She reached down to her socks... and pulled out a pipe?

Reborn sat up with interest.

The pipe in her hands elongated into what could only be a bo staff with how long it was. She pushed a button and holes slide open, almost like it was a massive flute.

The wind blew around her, almost like it was called by her weapon...it was rather strange.

And then she went after Gokudera with her staff, and Reborn's shock was open for the entire world to see.

She called that a 'dance'? It looked more like some of Fon's more insane martial arts attacks combined with staff combat from the more advanced schools.

A dance of death sounded terrifyingly appropriate, and the girl was surprisingly graceful with her moves.

Gokudera didn't stand a chance in hell. Once he admitted defeat, he eagerly agreed to serve her as her second-in-command.

"Brat, where did you learn to fight like that?" demanded Reborn. No way in hell a civilian got that good at what could only be lethal attacks without serious, intense training. Training that should have been noted in her damn files!

Sakura immediately went shy and turned her long staff back into an odd pipe that she slid into her sock.

She didn't even look in his direction before bolting, and within moments had become safely ensconced in the Receiving Room. Hayato looked confused...and definitely impressed considering she had just scaled a wall straight into an open second story window in less than a minute. Without any ropes or tools at all, but with a tree and a rather impressive jump.

Reborn was not happy. There were too many questions and not enough adding up to what little he had been given about the girl.

Outside of the fact she was introverted, a bit of an air head and had an unusual reaction to sounds, nothing was making sense. And he still didn't have confirmation of his suspicions about her!


	3. Chapter 3

Takeshi knew of Sakura Sawada. Hell, everyone knew of her, or had at least discovered her very overprotective best friend and his gang. Even if it had an official name and was considered a 'club', everyone knew the Disciplinary Committee was a gang under a polite exterior.

And Sakura was their princess. They even called her that outright in the halls!

But Takeshi knew a side to the girl that he was sure none of their classmates did.

Sakura liked baseball. Sometimes, he'd be in the cages and hear one of the machines going at an insane speed...and he'd see the girl calmly slamming home runs or dodging the balls without even a sweat. Even he would have balked at the speed she had the machine going at. Being hit with a ball would have meant an instant broken bone.

And so, he considered Sakura his unofficial rival.

However there was one tiny detail that people generally tended to forget about the girl. She had learned to hide it ridiculously well, and if she wasn't a regular customer with her mother to his dad's restaurant he wouldn't have even guessed this about her.

Sakura was completely blind.

And yet she moved like she could see, which made her ability to hit baseballs like she did absolutely amazing. But he couldn't hate her for her skills... she had worked to earn them through a lot of hard effort, and when she smiled as he read the menu and told her how the food generally tasted (because as the son of the chef he had eaten practically everything at least once)...it made his heart melt.

So yeah, it was hard not to admire the girl for her perseverance alone. Not that he would dare try anything to woo her...he wasn't suicidal and it was pretty damn obvious Hibari had long since staked his claim on her.

So when he sees the new kid trying to buddy up to her, and already calling her hime, he becomes very suspicious. It might do to have a little...chat...with the hot head before he gets into major trouble. If not with Hibari, then with Takeshi himself because he'd be damned if this idiot hurt Sakura-chan.

* * *

It was either a stroke of luck or perhaps just good timing, but when Takeshi waylaid Hayato before he could follow Sakura to the receiving room where she could get her homework done in peace...since she never wrote anything down in class for obvious reasons... that Reborn was not anywhere near to hear the discussion.

Hayato had a rather sour look on his face. Takeshi could care less.

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to give you an honest warning. Don't try anything funny with Sawada, or else you'll only end up hurt."

"Are you trying to say you're planning to date hime or something?" said Hayato snarling.

"No, but if you hurt Sawada I guarantee you I'll be the last person you need to worry about, especially with her condition."

Hayato suddenly looked at him seriously. It was about time this idiot paid attention, because he was overly defensive and might miss important things. Like the fact Sakura couldn't handle loud noises.

"What condition?"

"Sawada Sakura is legally blind."

Hayato suddenly stared at him like he had two heads.

"Bullshit."

"You know those bells she's always wearing? They're so she can 'see' the world around her without the cane since some of our classmates used to think it hilarious to hide it from her when she wasn't looking. Eventually she learned to do without it, but if she's around too much noise she goes into a complete panic attack and needs several minutes to calm down or she won't be able to function. She can't even go near large bodies of water because the sound carries and it overwhelms her ability to sense direction."

He only knew that because he offered to take her to the ocean during summer vacation one year, only for her mother to gently explain why Sakura couldn't swim in large bodies of water. The sensory overload was too strong for her to handle, but she could tolerate pools to a limited extent so long as she was in the shallow end with plenty of space.

Hayato almost didn't believe him...except her reaction to his bombs was a bit odd.

"What's she doing in that room then?" asked Hayato finally.

"Her homework, apparently. They have people from the committee who volunteer to read it out loud for her and she uses a computer and a microphone to 'write' down the answers and prints them. Hibari-san had it set up long before she even entered high school, though by this time most of the others think she's either faking it or that she eventually regained her sight. If you notice she never writes anything down from class."

Sakura was very, very good at hiding her condition.

"Look I'm just warning you because she's sort of a friend of mine. Even if we don't really interact that much outside class. Don't treat her like a glass doll unless she's having one of her panic attacks and whatever you do, don't piss off Hibari-san. He's pretty much staked his claim on her in middle school when some of the idiots thought her an easy target because of her condition."

Though what Takeshi didn't know was that it wasn't Kyouya who had damn near killed those idiots but Sakura herself. Kyouya merely took credit because Sakura was almost in the midst of a panic attack from the assault.

Hayato seemed to take his warning to heart, because while he did still cheerfully proclaim Sakura-chan his "princess", he kept more of a respectful distance and kept a close eye on her.

The green eyed boy did have a rather abrupt visit from Kyouya though, and after took a few days before he stopped shuddering at the rather graphic description of what the teen would do if he caught Hayato doing anything inappropriate to his Sakura-hime or didn't follow the official rules of dealing with her.

Like the "No smoking around Sakura" because it bothered her poor nose and the bombs would have to be kept away until she could learn to handle loud noises.

* * *

Sakura was at the restaurant again, and Takeshi made a beeline straight for the table with a smile.

"Thank you."

"Huh?" said Takeshi rather confused.

"For talking with Gokudera-kun. It seems my 'home tutor' hasn't picked up on the truth and Gokudera has calmed down considerably around me since you told him," she explained.

"Well you're a friend. I wasn't about to let him accidentally hurt you because he didn't know the truth," said Takeshi honestly.

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. Takeshi rubbed his head embarrassed.

"To be honest I've always considered you the closest thing I have to a rival since I sometimes see you playing in the cages before school. No one else in school has been able to hit as well as you do," admitted Takeshi.

"Wait... you're the one who's been over-straining his arm practicing everyday?!" said Sakura in disbelief.

"Eh?"

"I can tell just from the sound of your hits that your arm is dangerously close to being really badly hurt, and Fon-sensei said that if you don't take time off to let your muscles heal from long periods of exercise you run the risk of hurting yourself really badly. And I've heard you wince every time you hit the ball, regardless of how fast it's being thrown."

Takeshi blinked in shock.

"Really?" he said in surprise. He didn't know you could hurt yourself from over practicing.

"Ask your dad if you don't believe me," she said honestly.

Takeshi shook his head to dispel any other questions.

"So what will you have today?"

"Is there any of the blue special left? My home tutor is being an absolute nightmare and the tea is the main reason I came here today," she admitted hopefully.

The "blue special" was almost always available, especially for Sakura-chan. The tea alone did wonders for her panic attacks, according to her mother.

She was one of the rare customers who got a larger than normal flask of tea when she ordered it.

Later that night Takeshi brought up what she told him...and his father openly confirmed it. The second he heard Takeshi was feeling a lot of pain in his right arm, he pulled his son from the team until it was better, citing health reasons.

* * *

Sakura took step into the house...and promptly took a hit of the tea. She was going to need it.

Reborn was looking at one of her sculptures, though the one he had was one she considered a failure. She gave the one she got right to Fon on his birthday and he had been very pleased with it. And more than a little surprised considering what it was.

It was a small sculpture a little over a foot and a half of an older man with a long braid that looked remarkably like Kyouya if he grew his hair out. He had a Chinese outfit and a small pacifier to scale dangling around his neck and his stance was one from a particularly tricky and advanced martial arts move.

She had no idea what the _Karate Kid_ was, nor did she care. Odds were that it was a movie of some sort.

The thing was... Sakura had somehow managed to sculpt a perfect recreation of Fon in his adult form...not his cursed one. And there was no way she could have known what he looked like before because he was cursed long before she was born. And there were no pictures she could 'see' considering her condition.

Which begged the question of how she knew what he really looked like outside the curse.

"Where did you get this?" asked Reborn.

"I made it. That one's a failure though... I forgot the braid until after it was fired and it just looked like Kyou-chan trying to emulate his grandfather."

Which was why she wasn't going to show it off, ever.

"What about this one?" asked Reborn.

She caught the scent of clay and oils from her hand and stared at him.

"That one is unfinished."

"Why?"

"I find it interesting considering who the subject is."

Sakura rolled her eyes, or tried to. She didn't know if she was successful or not.

"Just because you have a weird curse doesn't mean I can't see your real form. It took me forever to finally get used to looking down and not up, considering the face was at the wrong height."

"You know Fon."

It explained a lot, like where she learned to fight and why she had a few sculptures of him in the house including one of his cursed form.

"Kyouya's grandfather is really nice."

"Any reason why none of these are painted?"

"Same reason I'm not allowed in the kitchen to cook alone," said Sakura without hesitation.

Besides, she had no idea if she would get the colors right anyway. Better to leave them alone.

Reborn was giving her a strange look.

Sakura went past him to get some batteries from the drawers. She had gotten some new audiobooks to listen to and she wanted to enjoy them before he tried to stir up chaos again.

She might not be able to read but she could still enjoy books.

She was rather annoyed by the heavy staring Reborn was giving her.

"What?" she demanded.

Feeling the weight on the bed, she scrunched up closer to herself. Only two people other than her were allowed to be that close in her room and he was not them.

She felt something wave in front of her and huffed in annoyance.

"How many fingers am I holding up? And don't shake your wrist or ankles."

"I don't know, and quite frankly I'm surprised it took you this long to notice," said Sakura crossly.

Reborn's voice was full of disbelief, as if he had trouble processing this.

"You're completely blind."

"I have been since I was five. They don't know what caused it, only that it's apparently because of some trauma. According to the doctor's it's psychosomatic in nature," said Sakura matter of fact.

"How was this not in the file I was given?"

"Because Mama got angry when she realized it happened right after a visit from someone she used to be in love with, and it didn't take a genius to figure out he caused it, since the trauma was bad enough I blocked it out completely. She made sure I was with Kyou-chan when he tried to visit, since she didn't want to make it worse. That's when I met Fon-sensei."

This was big. Very big. Reborn had never heard of a _blind_ mafia boss, and this is one thing he couldn't train her out of. He didn't even know where to start!

Fon had clearly trained her to hide the fact she was completely blind, and it was amazing she was able to function like she did. He hadn't even realized she couldn't see until he started putting the clues together.

"In any case why don't you relax tonight. I have some calls to make."

"You're going to tell that idiot who donated the other half of my genes about the fact he messed up big time."

"Close. I'm going to be telling off the idiots who caused this mess and we'll figure out how to go from there."

Timoteo had some damn explaining to do!


	4. Chapter 4

**As a belated birthday present from me to you (I turned 29 yesterday, joy) I'm posting several stories from the drabbles as full stories~! Enjoy!**

* * *

Reborn had some hope of Sakura at least surviving being the Decimo Vongola long enough to pass on the title to her children when the science teacher decided to hone in on her because of her test. Apparently he was one of the few who looked down on her because of the 'special treatment' she received, up to and including the private tests overseen by the other teachers.

Considering her condition, her Cloud went to extraordinary lengths to give his girlfriend something close to a normal school life.

He was still surprised she managed to snag the Rain kid on her own, considering she got him banned from the team for a full month. From what he saw the boy was baseball obsessed, so he shouldn't have taken the news lying down.

And yet there wasn't a hint of anger towards whatever she did to get him off the team for the next few games. More like respect and admiration.

Soon after Hayato had that encounter with the Cloud, the Rain started slowly drifting towards the girl. Or perhaps he had always been there waiting in the eaves for this chance, and didn't realize it. From the limited interactions between them it was clear he was fully aware of her condition and went out of his way to cater to the "rules" without being told.

He was likely the one who told Hayato, considering the Storm had looked like he was torn between treating his Sky like glass and idolizing her.

Reborn openly frowned in disapproval when the teacher manhandled her and confiscated the bells. Now that he knew the truth, he had to take things a little differently in how he trained her.

Hayato wasn't the only one who stood up in anger...Takeshi did as well and he was frowning strongly.

Two of the girls looked really upset.

"If you don't want to be expelled you useless girl, then find the time capsule!" sneered the teacher.

Sakura frowned at him, but slowly managed to leave the classroom.

Reborn followed at a distance and overheard her conversation.

"Any idea where Hibari-san is?" asked Takeshi.

Sakura's dazed expression brightened, before she pointed upward.

"Taking one of his naps on the roof, huh? Hup."

"Eep!" yelped Sakura as Takeshi picked her up princess-style.

"Baseball idiot, what are you up to?" said Hayato growling.

"He crossed the line. Everyone knows Sakura-chan treasures those bells, and it's in the rules. If anyone can get rid of that idiot and get them back it's Hibari-san. Besides, I'm sure he'll be very unhappy to hear what the man did, manhandling her like that..." said Takeshi grinning.

Sakura was used to being carried like this, but not by Takeshi.

He was able to walk up to the roof carrying Sakura. The second the door opened Hibari was practically on them.

"Why are you outside class, little bird?" demanded Hibari...before his eyes fell on something that was missing. "Where are your bells?"

"Nezu-sensei took them...after he practically yanked her out of her seat," said Takeshi, sitting her down.

Hibari looked positively murderous.

"Really..." he growled.

"That jackass said if she didn't want to get expelled she had to find some time capsule from fifteen years ago."

Hibari definitely looked pissed now.

"That's impossible. There are no records of a time capsule being buried fifteen years ago, and I have the locations of all the ones buried," said Hibari.

"So he set them up," said Takeshi.

"You lot stay here and guard hime. I'll deal with that idiot," said Hibari darkly.

* * *

 _Ten minutes later..._

"AIIIE! MERCY!" screamed Nezu ten minutes later.

"For attempting to harm Sakura-hime and disrupting the peace of the school I will bite you to death," snarled Hibari.

"Hibari-san, please stop!" pleaded the principal.

"Unless you want to defend a useless man who sets up his students with an impossible task and manhandles his students to confiscate personal property, back off."

"What."

Hibari's hand lashed out...snagging something in Nezu's pocket. The familiar tinkling of bells was heard...and there was no doubt who the owner was, because Sakura's bracelet had an inscription along with a set of phone numbers if found.

"And let's not forget the multiple complaints Sakura has made about the man belittling his students on a regular basis and humiliating them," said Hibari.

"Why was this not brought to my attention sooner?" said the principal.

"Sakura didn't think the man was important enough to bite to death, and was simply waiting until she had enough evidence to ban him permanently as an educational professional," said Hibari immediately.

"This is ridiculous! That delusional girl should be expelled!" demanded Nezu.

"Delusional?" said Hibari dangerously.

The principal winced.

"I'm afraid that her case against you is simply much stronger than the one you have against her. Especially since it's abundantly clear you believe her condition is a delusion," he said tiredly. "Douhachiro-san, you are hereby fired and if you do not return all the items you took from Sawada-san I will be forced to have you arrested...after Hibari-san is done with you."

Hibari smirked evilly, and Nezu damn near pissed himself.

 _On the roof..._

"That was clever of you, to get the Cloud kid to deal with the situation," said Reborn, sipping his coffee.

"Not really. Kyouya has been wanting to have a word with that teacher for months, but held back until we had a stronger case against him to bar him from teaching ever again. He's one of the few who refused to let me take my tests in another room where I can have the questions read out loud so I could answer. He thinks my condition is something I made up to get attention," said Sakura, sipping the coffee Reborn had shared with them. "So how did your talk with whoever you were trying to contact go?"

She preferred tea, but it was alright.

Reborn paused, noticing the other boys listening in to the conversation.

"I haven't told them yet. Mainly because I'm still trying to assess whether or not you're still a viable candidate for Decimo despite your condition. Considering you've learned to hide it so well and have been able to function without sight, you're still a candidate."

"And if she wasn't?" asked Takeshi.

"Then she might become a placeholder until she has children with the right Flame type. A caged bird, in other words."

Sakura winced. That was the comparison Kyouya had given to Fon when he asked why he had taken such an interest in her when she was eight.

He called her a "caged chick that had it's wings clipped too young and would never know the sky...and that the cage had been covered up to take away the light". Kyouya loved small animals, especially birds, so when he first met her and had that comparison in his head he instantly knew he had to protect her.

Fon called it his "Guardian instincts". Even sealed Kyouya had sensed she had Sky Flames strong enough to harmonize with him...and it didn't hurt she had instinctively recognized him as "safe" despite his reputation.

Needless to say Kyouya's family was beyond pleased he had found a Sky so easily...even more so when they realized the two were well on the way to becoming childhood sweethearts.

Kyouya stalked up to the roof, saw Sakura and headed straight for her. Without a word, he calmly slipped the bracelet back on her wrist before sitting down behind her and leaning against her back to resume his nap.

She giggled but said nothing. Reborn smirked.

It was abundantly clear the Cloud had staked his claim and would fight to defend his Sky, and that was before his Guardian instincts came into play.

* * *

The day Lambo showed up, Sakura was in the middle of sculpting something random for fun.

Reborn was reading some random paper from Italy, as there were unofficially designated quiet times purely to relax. The only sound came from the music on the stereo, and this week was something classical Reborn favored when he was trying to unwind.

Being the center of chaos was something he enjoyed...but these peaceful times were nice too. So much so he was very reluctant to disturb them.

Then the doorbell rang, and Nana opened the door. Except the one doing the ringing was too short to be seen right away and slipped into the house when she was trying to find the culprit.

The house was soon disturbed by the sound of a loud child, what could only be explosions, and the yelp of her daughter.

That was quickly followed by Reborn telling someone off and checking on Sakura, since she was still unused to loud noises.

Nana thought to find out what happened... until Sakura came down with a thoroughly chastised little boy with fluffy hair and a face that said volumes of how upset he was.

Seeing her daughter calmly get a wash rag and some warm water, she left her to it while she continued with dinner.

 _With Sakura..._

Lambo was a little angel if you handled him right. The poor kid was practically starving for attention and latched on to positive affection and reinforcement. A little coaxing revealed he was an orphan... something Reborn confirmed, along with the fact he was from a minor Familigia in Italy.

Sakura got on the boy's good side with a single move...she gave him an entire bowl of fresh grapes and let him sit in her lap while he ate them.

It quickly became apparent that Lambo was firmly smitten with her, to the point he would be nearly impossible to get rid of without upsetting Sakura in the process. She always wanted a little brother to spoil.

And then the Ten Year Bazooka came out, and things got complicated and weird.

Fifteen-year-old Lambo was a looker...but it was the cryptic message he gave Reborn that had her on edge.

"What did he mean when he said I needed to be around stronger Flames before my sight returns?" she asked baffled. Being called Sakura-onee-sama was nice, especially the hug when Lambo recognized her.

"I have an idea that I hope I'm right about," said Reborn cryptically.

From the way Lambo said that, and the fact he was starting to feel the effects of a slow harmonization, it was possible that Sakura's sight wasn't lost...so much as it was _buried_ under the seal.

Her Flames were a mere ember of what they could be, since he couldn't risk using his bullets to force her Dying Will Flames out like he normally would.

Sakura's Dying Will Flame was like that of a deep, still lake. In the bottom was her sight, but there were tiny openings so that the ability to see could vent and still exist. With every connection to the other six Flame types, a net was slowly being woven around the 'core' that had been sealed. The stronger the Flame and the connection to the person, the more 'weaving' it created.

Sakura herself stood above the lake waters, observing from the cage around her caused by her blindness. Kyouya had at least given her a chance to see around her, but she was trapped and unable to access her Flames on her own.

With enough bonds, perhaps she could find a way to 'haul' her sight out of the lake and free herself.

Reborn had some serious work to do. He couldn't let this girl go without her sight if she was to be the next Decimo of the Vongola family.

"So Lambo is going to be staying with us?" said Sakura hopefully.

"The pest seems to like you, and he'll only get into mischief if left alone," said Reborn. "Keep him far from me."

"Lambo-kun, do you like arts and crafts?" said Sakura cheerfully.

It didn't take much encouragement to get the five-year-old Bovino to join in on her sculpting time...though in his case it was more he was allowed to make a controlled mess with dirt and a little water on a plastic mat. Needless to say the little boy had a lot of fun being allowed to make a mess and Reborn got _some_ of his peaceful afternoon back.

* * *

Reborn had a sudden ominous feeling when he heard Bianchi had evidently _not_ given up on him and after a string of particularly pathetic boyfriends was heading to Japan specifically to see him again.

Considering she had made things...interesting...for Dino when he was training the idiot, he had the suspicion the woman would try again with Sakura.

Odds were Sakura would smell the poison and avoid it, but he would rather avoid having Bianchi end up dead because she failed to realize the girl was even better protected than Dino had been.

Dino had decent security, but it was rather lax considering he had to work his ass off to be able to pay his bodyguards. As such there were times they had to rely on half-assed volunteers to keep him safe.

Not that he was ever safe when Reborn was teaching him.

Sakura, on the other hand, practically had the Disciplinary Committee and their leader wrapped around her little finger. Most of whom were far better trained than Dino's men, mostly to survive Kyouya's rampages when bored.

You either learned how to fight and not get your head caved in, or you moved to another town to get far, far away from Kyouya. It said a lot that the majority ended up learning to fight and survive rather than move and hope Kyouya didn't come after them.

Though any fool could see the majority of that was because of Sakura herself. No one wanted to disappoint their "princess", and she was always the one to patch them up after.

So if Bianchi tried to target Sakura in a misguided effort to convince Reborn to go back with her...

He winced, as there was no way that would end well for the Poison Scorpion. Never mind what sort of trauma it would likely inflict on her younger half-brother.

Who knew...with any luck perhaps Sakura could work her own brand of magic on the teen and get Bianchi on her side, rather than trying to kill her.


	5. Chapter 5

Bianchi's attempts to poison Sakura to death were meet with dismal failure. For one thing her nose was sharper than the Poison Scorpion anticipated, so she managed to knock away whatever Bianchi was trying to use before it could be deployed.

And of course there was the time that the girls were planning to make cakes for the boys in Home Economics... Bianchi tried to intercept Sakura's offering, only to learn that the girl was automatically exempt from the class.

The only thing she managed to do was traumatize her younger brother, who immediately fled to the same girl she was trying to kill.

The last and final attempt failed purely because of when she tried it.

In short Hibari was less than happy to have an older carnivore after his little bird, and made it known...in spades. Gokudera was torn between pitying his sister and considering cheering the violent cloud on.

And then Bianchi was told something that made her feel like she had been punched in the gut.

She had no idea the girl she was trying to kill was blind. She had been openly trying to kill a handicapped child who had to grow up with the knowledge her own father had robbed her of sight, and had been briefly tormented until she found a Cloud who took a shine to her.

That alone might have at least calmed Bianchi's attempts down... but it was Sakura herself who managed to win her over to her side as a member of her growing Family.

Bianchi was a firm believer of love conquering anything, including poisons. In fact she had a penchant for reading romance novels that had that as a theme all the time.

Sakura was of a similar, if less high strung mindset. She was a firm believer that maybe her love for "Kyou-chan" and her growing number of Knights (she didn't use the term Guardians, but it was heavily implied) would one day help her see again.

Reborn was relieved when Bianchi quit it with the poison around Sakura... she had enough trouble cooking without help, she didn't need to worry about poison on top of it. Besides, watching Hayato freak out when Bianchi took an older sister role to the younger girl was hilarious.

* * *

Sakura and Reborn were walking to the school when they were confronted by a very strange girl.

"Can I hug your baby brother?" she asked, almost excitedly.

"Um... he's not my brother. We're not even remotely related. And if you want to hug him, why don't you ask him instead," said Sakura slowly.

The girl immediately turned to Reborn.

"No."

She pouted.

"Still, he must be such a good little brother to walk his sister to school every day!"

Sakura frowned the second she heard the familiar tone in the girl's voice.

"You're not one of those idiots who openly believes I'm mentally handicapped... are you?" she asked with suspicion.

She didn't need to see to know the girl openly winced.

"Why did that stupid rumor get started anyway? I'm blind, not mentally impaired," she complained.

"To be fair, most generally walk around with a cane or a dog," said Reborn.

"But that just means people give me their fake pity and act like I'm an invalid! Do you have any idea how irritating that is?" said Sakura pouting.

If there was one thing she hated, it was the false sympathy and pity she got when people who had just met her found out she was blind. It really annoyed the hell out of her when they started treating her like glass, as if she couldn't do simple tasks like opening a freaking door or getting a chair.

Which had only inspired her to redouble her efforts to master the 'echo-location' trick and why she wore bells all the time. Needless to say Fon used it as a way to inspire her to train harder in how to fight.

The less people knew about her condition, the happier she was.

You could practically tell the girl was openly ashamed at being busted like that.

"So if he's not your brother, then why does he walk with you to school every day?"

Sakura decided to play on the girl's guilt and hopefully shame her into leaving her the hell alone.

Between the boys and the girls, the ones who inflicted the majority of her trauma were the girls. They could do damage without leaving a single physical trace that Kyouya could use against them. Most were too scared of her "boyfriend" to bother her now, but it used to be a very unpleasant problem.

Ergo, she didn't want to open up trouble she didn't need.

"He's someone who suffers from dwarfism. Despite his looks, he's actually over thirty," said Sakura, lying with ease.

Reborn gave her the oddest look, too bad she couldn't see it.

"Dwarfism?"

"Little person? I believe the slang is 'midget', which is rather derogatory," said Sakura.

"No way!"

"He's also my home tutor," said Sakura.

It took a bit of convincing, but while they didn't get rid of Miura Haru at least she wasn't about to draw all the wrong conclusions.

"Where did you come up with that one?" said Reborn. He dealt with the misconception he was a toddler for years, all of them had. He'd never heard someone come up with a lie that was so readily accepted and still got him treated as a proper adult!

"I got it from Fon. Who picked it up from someone named Verde. Apparently it's how they're able to order things not available to 'children' in the civilian world, and he shared it with Fon," said Sakura immediately.

Reborn paused. Okay, he could believe that Verde would come up with that just to get things done legally in the civilian side when proxies were unavailable and shared it with Fon at some point.

"You know Verde?"

"Not really. Fon's only mentioned him once or twice...something about seeing if he couldn't come up with a device I could wear on my ear like a headset that could scan 2-D objects like books so it could read them for me without causing a disruption. Audiobooks are great, but I would like to be able to 'read' things without having to ask someone to speak the words out loud."

"...Is that why there's so many 'language' audiobooks in your room?" asked Reborn.

"They're usually on sale," admitted Sakura.

"Well now I know what we'll be working on for a while," said Reborn cheerfully. "I happen to know a few languages myself."

"I'm good at English, Italian, Chinese, French, Spanish and German. My Gaelic still needs work, as does my Russian. I'm passable at Latin."

"I can understand all but the last two. Where did you pick up those from? And why?"

"Because the Prince insisted that any proper princess should know the more obscure languages, and Mammon commented on how often people wrote legal contracts in Latin. Besides, most of the languages from Europe are loosely based on Latin anyway."

He'd conceded that readily, though it was odd she learned something like Gaelic in the first place. Then what she said registered.

"Who's the 'prince'?"

"Someone who occasionally visits to eat sushi at Takesushi. Considering how often I need their tea, we ran into each other and eventually he decided he liked me enough to help me learn more languages, and quickly roped in his partner as well. She was rather disgruntled I figured out her gender though, and she has a really nice frog."

Belphegor was rather sweet, if he decided he liked you. And Mammon was sarcastic and a bit greedy, but actually nice if you got on her good side. Then again Sakura always made sure to pay for the woman's strawberry milk that she liked so much, and even let them mooch off her mother's cooking so that was a big plus.

Nana wasn't too fond of Belphegor for some reason, but put up with it because he was nice to her daughter and didn't treat her like a glass doll that could break any minute.

"Actually the prince is overdue for another visit here. I wonder what's keeping him?" said Sakura to herself.

Reborn wouldn't hear the conversation between her and this "Prince", but he did know that it was spoken primarily in Italian which made him suspect someone from one of the Familigias happened to stumble upon Sakura. Likely an heir, or a spare heir anyway.

If he had any idea who she was actually talking to, he would have had to reevaluate her ability as a boss.

Too bad he was completely unaware that Sakura had made friends with the Storm and Mist Officers of the Varia of all people... and through them was tentatively associated with their Sun and Rain.

* * *

 _In Varia headquarters..._

"Shishishi... The boss was revived recently. He's currently in recovery and licking his wounds," said Belphegor on the phone.

" _That's great! I know you were all really upset when he was 'iced', and it sounds like things are getting really interesting over there!"_ said Sakura. _"I've had some new developments of my own... I've recently gotten a very weird home tutor and some 'knights'."_

"Sounds like we're both having fun, Principessa."

" _He's really strange though. Keeps insisting he's the world's greatest hit man and yet it took him over a month to realize I'm blind,"_ said Sakura in open amusement.

Belphegor paused. There was no way she was talking about Reborn of all people, was she? Why would someone as innocent as Sakura-chan end up with Reborn as a home tutor?

He only taught potential heirs to Familigias who could afford their fees. As far as he knew, she was firmly a civilian.

"Shishishi...sounds like you're having fun."

" _It's...interesting. I have some new sculptures if you're interested next time you come to town. I even have that one of Mammon finished, but I was a bit leery of sending it via the post considering how hectic you mentioned your work was."_

"I'll be sure to tell Mammy that it's done. If nothing else we might visit within a few months, if the Boss allows it."

Or they'd ask for a brief vacation if they had to.

" _Well I hope your boss gets better. I could try sending some of your favorite sushi through express mail so you don't go too long without it."_

"Shishishi... and that's why I like you best, Principessa."

The girl might be a civilian, but she was practically a princess in her own right despite being from a middle class neighborhood. Even the peasants around her acknowledged that, as did the rather territorial Cloud brat who was her Prince.

Though it had taken a really amusing fight with the Cloud before Belphegor acknowledged the boy's claim on the Princess. The boy had amassed a very impressive number of retainers and used them to defend the Principessa.

Though Hibari didn't deserve the title (or want to be called as such) of Prince, Belphegor acknowledged the teen as his equal in rank.

After all, only a true prince deserved a princess like Sakura-chan.

Belphegor finished the call, feeling happy the Princess had noticed he was overdue for his visit and cared enough to call and ask if anything was wrong.

Seeing Mammon, he smirked.

"The princess said that the sculpture she made of you and Fantasma is done, but she didn't trust our post system since the mansion is so 'rowdy'," said Belphegor. Mammon perked up at that.

It had been strange, staying put long enough for Sakura to get a good 'feel' of what she looked like, but she had seen the girl's work. The bust she did of Belphegor was spot on, right down to the crown and she even got his smirk perfectly. Naturally he was very pleased with the result, even if it had taken a lot of bribery for him to sit still long enough.

It was very hard to believe that the girl was genuinely blind...

* * *

Shamal was in a bit of a bind... he was in a lot of trouble with a queen and he could only hope Reborn had someplace he could hide until the heat died down.

Fortunately his friend was acting as a tutor, which meant he was staying in one place for a while.

And then he caught sight of the kid Reborn was currently training... the girl was going to be a total looker in a few years.

She had the whole "princess" feel down to a tee, even though she wasn't raised in any castle. Hell, she even had retainers around her!

"Ciaossu, Shamal," said Reborn sitting on a hammock while the girl played with a kid who looked like he was from the Bovino Familigia. She was teaching him how to play cat's cradle.

The girl turned to face him...and he could tell right away she was completely blind. Her eyes weren't focusing at all despite being in direct sunlight.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"This is an old friend of mine named Shamal, and he's a doctor," said Reborn.

The girl got up and somehow managed to know exactly where he was despite her condition. She even held out her hand for him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Shamal-san," she said.

Shamal firmly shook it, and was pleased she wasn't some weak wall flower like he thought.

"It's nice to meet you too, little lady," he said grinning.

"So what did you do this time?" asked Reborn.

"I may or may not have pissed off a Queen," said Shamal in Italian. No need to air out the dirty laundry in front of this little girl.

Reborn smirked.

"Well you had best keep your hands to yourself around Sakura-chan here... her boyfriend will almost certainly take offense if you try any of your usual tricks, and he's highly protective of her," he replied in the same language.

"How bad?"

"He's a Cloud who's organized almost the entire city's worth of delinquents into a close approximation of a Family. What do you think?" deadpanned Reborn. Shamal winced at the idea.

Yeah, he could live with not flirting with the girl if it meant avoiding crossing that. Besides, there were plenty of ladies for him to enjoy around here anyway.

"So which Familigia is she with, and do they know about..."

"It's the Vongola, and I haven't told them yet," said Reborn.

Shamal almost choked. The Vongola didn't know their last remaining heir was _blind_? This was going to cause a major stir the second it got out!


	6. Chapter 6

Hibari was having a...mild...panic attack, though you would have to actually know him well to notice. The reason was simple enough as to why.

Sakura's birthday was in a week and he had no idea what he was going to get her this year. The entire bell theme had more or less run it's course, and while he could get her an animal the simple fact was that he didn't want to compete for her affections.

His second-in-command found it rather amusing, but was smart enough to keep his silence on the matter.

Knowing her "knights" as she had jokingly called the two lackeys who followed her around in place of his own people, they had no idea her birthday was coming up.

And then he spotted something that gave him an idea of what to get her. It was a comic book one of the lackeys in the committee had been reading, and there was little wonder why.

One of the characters on the cover looked a hell of a lot like Sakura did, even down to the hair style and the name. About the only thing off was the eye color.

It took little time to look up this "Tsubasa Chronicles", and a plan formed in his head. A smirk curled onto his face as he immediately started looking up a few things.

This was going to be a fun surprise for his little bird.

* * *

 _With Takeshi and Gokudera..._

"Wait... so it's the Hime's birthday next week?" said Hayato in shock.

"Yeah. I only remembered because her mom brought her to the restaurant a few times to celebrate, usually with Hibari."

"So how old is she going to be?"

"I think she's turning fifteen this year," said Takeshi.

Hayato looked panicked. He had no idea what to get her for her birthday...until he over heard some girls talking and spotted a violin case. Inspiration struck, as he definitely remembered Sakura having a lot of classical music in her home...that was one of the more consistent genres he always heard playing in the house.

It had initially confused him why there was always music playing until he found out she was blind and used sound to "see" for her. Then it made total sense.

He would have to find out what her favorite piano songs were and brush up on some skills he hadn't bothered with in some time. If he remembered right, there was a piano in one of the music rooms.

Takeshi was of a similar mind, though in his case it was more to do with finding a random manga in the restaurant left behind by one of the female patrons. It was an older one long since completed, but the main character looked a _lot_ like Sakura, except her eyes were the wrong color. They even had the same first name!

The second he realized her birthday was less than a week away (and after getting some accidental inspiration) Takeshi had gone online and found a plush that he was sure she'd like. He knew she was a fan of animals, especially birds.

"Wonder what Hibari is getting her," said Takeshi.

"Who cares? I bet it's more bells though."

"Ciaossu."

The two of them barely reacted to Reborn's sudden appearance.

"You know my birthday is in five days," he said by way of conversation.

"Bianchi will be happy," deadpanned Gokudera.

"How weird, your birthday is right before Sakura-chan's," said Takeshi.

Well there went his plan to hijack her birthday. Damn.

"I'm sure Sakura wouldn't mind sharing..." said Takeshi not noticing Reborn's annoyed expression.

"So what are you two getting her?" asked Reborn. If only to have an idea of what not to get.

"I'm going to be borrowing the music room and get some sheet music," said Hayato. Odds are Hibari would allow it once he heard _why_.

"A plush toy from a really old series that has a character who looks a lot like a younger version of Sakura, with the same first name," said Takeshi.

"Got it."

He'd just get her something she could use with her sculpting, like some oddly shaped sea shells or beads. A sudden idea occurred to him that had his inner sense of chaos grinning with anticipation.

He could get her one of those shells that sounded like the ocean, preferably with something living inside it and hear her squeak with surprise. That ought to be fun.

* * *

"Eh? So Reborn's birthday is the day before mine?" said Sakura in surprise.

"Yes," said Bianchi. She was one of the few who knew it.

"Well at least this means I can give him that sculpture I made as a present. Are you any good at painting?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Well I can never paint mine for obvious reasons, and this way you won't accidentally poison him so he can properly enjoy his birthday. Love overcomes a lot of things, but I don't think you'd want to put him into the hospital from food poisoning now would you?"

Bianchi blinked.

"Where's the sculpture?" she asked.

Sakura went into the side room where she kept them, and brought out two.

"You can pick either one, though I only finished this one last week. Reborn was nice enough to pose for the slightly bigger one, though I think he'd be most surprised by this one," she said, patting the one that looked more like an adult version of what she thought the "baby" would look like, even with the pacifier around his neck.

Bianchi blinked, before she smiled and tapped the 'adult' version.

"I'm not very good at painting though."

"Well you can at least help out by holding the colors for me while I do it. As you can tell I've got a pretty steady hand, I just need help with the color coordination."

"Fair enough."

Bianchi watched in fascination as Sakura painted the sculpture with whatever Bianchi's hand guided her too. Between the two of them it was done fairly quickly and with a neat hand. It really looked like an older version of Reborn too, and Bianchi was so impressed she helped paint the "baby" version complete with the mini-Leon on the hat.

Sakura discreetly took it to the little kiln that her mother had set up outside (it was firmly off limits to everyone but Sakura) and put them in. She knew how long to back the clay, but she had never really painted any of them before.

Once they were done and properly cooled, even Bianchi had to admit they were really well done. For one thing, the "to-scale" version of Reborn was so dead on that if she didn't know any better she would swear he was right there.

"Do you mind if I keep this?" asked Bianchi.

"Sure!" said Sakura. It was nice to have her work appreciated, even if it was mostly to kill time.

"What are you two up to?" asked Nana smiling. Bianchi was a bit...off... though thankfully not in the same way as Belphegor, but she seemed to fit into a "big sister" role around Sakura. Besides, it had been some time since her daughter was this happy to be around others she barely knew.

Reborn, for all the headaches he brought, was good for her.

"Reborn's birthday is a day before mine. So we could probably celebrate his around ten and then mine around midnight or something," suggested Sakura. That way they were _technically_ sharing a birthday but at least it would be celebrated on the actual date.

"That sounds like a lot of fun! I'll start coordinating with Tsuyoshi for the food, and we can even order those cakes you like so much!" said Nana happily. Trust her daughter to come up with a genius solution to a tricky problem of combining the two birthdays into one.

Bianchi definitely seemed to approve of the idea and was already sending out texts to everyone but Reborn. This would be a nice surprise for him.

Of course she had to get Nana's help to figure out what to get Sakura. It wouldn't do for her to be forgotten, and her cooking was out since the girl could sniff out any poison.

She had plenty of bell jewelry and no perfumes or make up. Apparently it made her sneeze a lot. And dresses really weren't her thing, since the girl already had so many of them.

What to do, what to do...

* * *

"Repeat that. I thought I heard something stupid," said Hibari, glaring at Hayato.

"I overheard Hime's birthday is in a few days and I need help with the music selection. I've got some skill with a piano, but no idea what to play," said Hayato.

Even if he had to work out a few kinks before he even though to approach Hibari...namely the past feelings Bianchi caused with her damn poison cooking on their father's orders. Once he got that out, he should be good to go.

Hibari stared at him, with an unreadable expression on his face. Then, to the relief of Hayato he pulled out not his familiar tonfas, but a list of songs that were very useful in calming down Sakura. Some of which were very easily converted to piano.

"You better not screw up, puppy knight," said Hibari flatly.

At this point, he could tolerate his designated nickname from Hibari. It was less annoying than the "Octopus head" that jerk Ryohei gave him.

He was still banned from being in Sakura's presence until he learned some volume control. The boxing idiot had a bad habit of using his "outdoor" voice which was more appropriate for talking over loud concerts than an "indoor" voice, which she could tolerate.

The verbal tick they could live with, the loud exclamations that bothered Hime so much, they could live without. It was positively headache inducing.

"I at least have some pride in my ability to play," said Hayato. Now to track down that sheet music, or at least find some videos on Youtube...

The "puppy knight" as Hibari liked to think of him, if only because he acted like an over-eager puppy who would follow Sakura-hime around and actually bite anyone stupid enough to come after her (hence why he tolerated the dog's presence), left and Hibari looked into the rest of the drawer to the two almost messily wrapped presents inside.

Give him a mob to break up and bite to death, and he would do it with gusto and a smile on his face.

Ask him to wrap a simple square box in wrapping paper and suddenly you had the most uncoordinated human on the planet who's only ability to the act was that it was more or less covered with plenty of tape holding it shut.

Needless to say this amused Fon greatly when he found that out, because Hibari only wrapped presents for Sakura, who couldn't see how badly it was done anyway.

It also served as a reminder that regardless of how he behaved around others, Hibari was most certainly not perfect at everything he did. It comforted the lackeys to know he couldn't wrap a simple box.

Hibari remembered the odd text he got earlier from Nana. Something about a joint birthday party, because apparently the fake baby had his the day before, so they were going to celebrate it a little later than normal so both Reborn and Sakura could share the party without making it incredibly awkward.

Considering his suspicions about Reborn and how he was possibly related to Fon in some way, he had the feeling the "baby" would love the minor present Hibari was going to give him.

Sakura's ability to convince people was a powerful thing. So powerful in fact that she convinced the annoying carnivore to dress up in absurd outfits, especially on Halloween.

Including one memorable occasion when he looked like a particularly ridiculous and adorable little red dragon, which had made it rather hard to look and him and not laugh his ass off.

Hibari had extras. His mother had nearly died laughing herself when she saw what Fon was wearing.

* * *

Reborn got his dose of chaos from an obscure Vongola tradition that amused Sakura to an extent, which made it "okay".

He was rather pleased with the gifts, even if he was taken aback by the sculpture that was a dead ringer for his true form, down to the tiny gun in "his" hands and the half-tilted fedora on 'his' head.

There was no way he wasn't keeping this.

Haru's gift was cute, in a childish way, but mafioso didn't wear white. It was too hard to get the bloodstains out.

What really made his day though was the "gift" Hibari presented him. Two seconds after he realized what he was looking at, a shared smirk passed between the two.

"Sakura?" he asked.

"Sakura and a mother all too willing to find matching costumes."

Reborn openly cackled. Fon looked ridiculously cute, especially with the "fluff ball" known as Sakura holding him like a teddy bear.

To his disappointment he didn't scare her with the shell that still had a living creature in it (he had hoped she wouldn't notice it with the chaos, but apparently she did) but it was still one of the more entertaining parties he had in a long time.

And shortly after midnight, the other half of the party started and it was centered around Sakura. He had to admit splitting the party into two halves by holding it later at night was pretty smart.

Sakura was very happy with the plush dolls Takeshi and Hibari got her...both ironically had the same inspiration for gifts, even if the series were different. To be fair, the older one inspired the series Hibari used.

Takeshi had given Sakura a "Kero-chan" plush and an accurate replica of the "Key of Sealing" from the old _Card Captor Sakura_ series. He would have gotten the cards as well, but considering she couldn't see them it wouldn't have been worth it.

Hibari had given her the "Mokona Modoki" from _Xxxholic_ and _Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles_. There was a black Mokona with a blue jewel and a white Mokona with a bright red jewel.

All three of them were ridiculously fluffy.

It was a very fun and entertaining party... of course Hayato had to wait before he could give Sakura his gift.

* * *

 _After school..._

Sakura knew she was in the music room from the sound alone, but didn't know why Hayato brought her here. She sat down on the bench next to him...and to her surprise she heard the rustling of what sounded like sheet paper and the opening of the keyboard.

For a moment there was nothing...and then the sound of piano music filled the air. Whoever was doing it was really good, there were almost no missed notes.

It took her a few moments to realize Hayato was playing the piano with a skill she didn't know he had.

"Happy birthday, Sakura-hime."

She smiled and leaned against him, just listening to his playing. This was a really nice present, because she had no idea he was this good.

Good thing he cleared it with Hibari first, because Hayato noticed the slightly jealous look the teen was giving him from the doorway.


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura didn't need to be told who was coming when she went to see Kyouya. Only one person made him this irritable and that was his grandfather Fon.

Sakura hid a smile... Fon was a lot more fun than Reborn to have around and he didn't mind if Sakura dressed him up in matching costumes. Reborn was too mean to ask him to do it.

"Fon is bringing his current student with him. Apparently he needs someplace to take her since she was given a rather dangerous ability from her grandparents and they cut him off from helping her directly."

Which meant he couldn't just leave her with Hibari, since they were related.

Sakura tilted her head.

"What about having an older apprentice train her until she's ready to learn the more advanced forms?"

"Why do you think he's coming here? He'll probably want you to be her trainer and let her have an actual child hood," said Hibari.

Oh, so that's why he was irritated. He didn't like sharing her at all, but he put up with it because it made her happy. He barely tolerated Lambo at all.

"Well at least I can share some of the new costumes Mama got for us," said Sakura.

"Why not share them with Reborn?"

"Too scary and I don't know if he'd be willing to join in."

Hibari openly snorted. He'd seen that fake baby dress up in ridiculous things before, multiple times. Most of the costumes were from random anime series or books, and rarely anything too humiliating. After all, no one wanted to hear Sakura cry because some idiot made fun of what she was wearing.

Fon was smiling as he lead I-Pin directly to the house. Considering how near sighted she was, she could benefit greatly from Sakura's little tricks of getting around without sight.

At least until she was old enough to wear contacts anyway.

Lichi hit the doorbell and it took Nana a few seconds to look down.

"Fon-san! And this must be your apprentice Kyouya mentioned. Come on in! Sakura should be coming home soon with her little friends, and we're having Thai tonight."

Fon smiled and took I-Pin inside. The music on the stereo was a mixed selection of some very old and some popular songs from his homeland. Sakura had loved it, since it meant she had more variety to listen to at home.

I-Pin seemed to relax once inside... likely from the music and the atmosphere.

Fon had sealed her special gift until she was old enough to use it and not take out innocent bystanders.

"Mama, I'm home! Lambo was extra good today," said Sakura. The little Bovino was sitting on her shoulder happy enjoying some grape lollipops.

Nana easily took the little boy from her shoulders, and Lambo didn't hesitate to transfer over to her. He was thriving in this new place, and they had high hopes he'd be able to attend school soon once they heard back from his family.

"Ciaossu, Fon," said Reborn.

Fon blinked.

"Who sent you?"

"Timoteo did," said Reborn.

Fon looked at Sakura with surprise. So she was the heiress of the Vongola now. That made his decision to leave I-Pin with her a much better one... not even her grandparents would be able to remove her if she bonded with the Vongola heiress.

"Who's Timoteo?" asked Sakura.

"One of two people I will be having...words...with the next time I see them," said Reborn darkly.

He had admitted to placing the seal on Sakura, but not any follow up after. It was as if he expected Iemitsu to actually be a real father to his child when he didn't even visit that often.

Reborn smirked and held something up for Fon to see.

Fon blinked, before he groaned.

"Kyouya gave you that, didn't he?"

"He gave me a number of interesting pictures."

"That little..."

He was going to get Kyouya for that. Giving blackmail to Reborn was never a good idea unless you were trying to get him to do something for you later.

Fon glanced at I-Pin, who had quickly fallen under the strange charms of Sakura. The little girl was absolutely smitten with the older one. It was adorable to watch.

Though he was very glad he sealed away her ability to blow up when Lambo took notice of her. In the way of little boys everywhere, the little Bovino started teasing her.

"Now Lambo-kun, that's not very nice. You don't like it when Reborn or Hayato pick on you, so that's no reason to pick on I-Pin," scolded Sakura.

Lambo looked ready to cry. He didn't like being scolded by his Onee-sama.

"On that note, I got a letter from the Bovino Familigia about Lambo. They said they're fine with Sakura adopting him."

"Hear that Lambo? You can stay with us from now on!" said Sakura cheerfully. That made Lambo's day.

Fon looked to Reborn.

"What did it really say?" he asked in Chinese.

"I told the Bovino family Lambo had become her Lightning Guardian and they were more than happy to let him stay as long as she wanted him around," said Reborn. Lambo was very annoying, and if the Vongola Heiress wanted to keep him as a little brother, they were happy to let her so long as she took care of him properly.

"That reminds me... Verde said he might be heading this way at some point with his pet," said Fon.

"Why?"

"I think he saw the sculpture she made of my true form and he's intrigued if she can do that with all of us or just those she's close to."

"She did it to me as well. Less than a week after I came here she started making one of my adult form," said Reborn.

"I'm surprised you haven't run into Viper yet. She's particularly fond of Sakura, as is her partner."

"Viper's been here too?" said Reborn. "I haven't seen the miser in a long time."

"She comes here regularly because her partner likes the sushi at that restaurant run by the retired Rain. She was very put out Sakura knew her gender despite the fact she went to great lengths to hide it."

Actually it was more that she was irritated Sakura told Fon what her gender was, since it was one of the big mysteries of the Arcobelano.

"She said that they were currently tied up since their Sky was recently freed and still healing," said Sakura. "But they should be able to head this way sometime in the near future. Their boss is particularly eager to visit Namimori for reasons she didn't want to explain."

Xanxus wanted to test out the new Decimo heir...and possibly try to assert his own claim as one of the Decimo candidates if he didn't like the "spawn of Iemitsu". Since all he knew of the new heir was that it was a girl about fifteen or sixteen with brown hair that lived in Namimori, they were mostly going to track Reborn down and find her through him.

* * *

Hibari was minding his own business and keeping an eye on the peace of Namimori when he overheard something he didn't like.

It was Nana, looking everywhere for her wallet.

He didn't frown, but he did look annoyed. He detested those who disturbed the peace of the city...especially when the target was Sakura's mother.

And then he saw someone looking particularly smug about the situation and his day got a whole lot better.

The pick pocket didn't see the tonfa coming. Neither did his two older brothers.

"Oh no, what am I going to do?"

"Wao. Is this yours?" asked a familiar voice.

"Kyouya-kun! You found my wallet!" said Nana in relief.

"Someone particularly foolish took it from your bag. I bit them to death for the offense," said Kyouya, as if he hadn't just left three people bloody on the side of the road.

Considering several people were finding missing items in their possession, the herbivores weren't exactly inclined to care about Hibari's punishment.

It was their own fault for doing it while he was in the area.

Nana was so pleased she convinced him to help carry some of the groceries home so she could make him hamburger steak as a thank you.

"Kyou-chan!" said Sakura happily, hugging him.

"Wao. Hello little bird. Having fun with the new additions?"

Sakura nodded.

"Lambo and I-Pin get along really great, and it's like I have little siblings now! And I-Pin is a really fast learner..." said Sakura happily.

Hibari patted her head gently and let her ramble on. A happy Sakura meant a less violent Kyouya, which was good for everyone. Even if he had to deal with Fon staying in town for a few months so Sakura could learn some new staff forms he had managed to get for her.

At least the annoying carnivore was staying with Sakura, and not him.

* * *

Hibari was frowning when he saw the large grouping of almost-carnivores surrounding the house. Sakura immediately clung to him from surprise.

"Halt, only members of the Sawada family are allowed past."

Hibari raised his tonfa in his own warning.

"Crowding in front of Sakura-hime's home is not allowed. Leave or I will bite you to death," said Hibari narrowing his eyes.

"Ah, there you are Sakura-chan. Reborn's called in his previous student so you can meet," said Fon from the wall.

The sea of almost-carnivores parted, and Hibari was very displeased.

Fon looked at the 'sea' of Cavallone Family and felt he did owe them at least some minor warning... if only to enjoy the fun of seeing grown men cry when they realized how horribly outclassed they were.

"You do realize that was Sakura-chan's boyfriend with her, right? A particularly vicious and territorial Cloud who hates large groups more than she does?"

"And?" asked Romario.

"Nothing. I think Reborn might actually bring popcorn while we watch the show if you think grouping up in large numbers outside the house is a smart move around Hibari. Though I would advise keeping the noise level down, otherwise he'll really get angry with you."

Something in the way he said that sent bad vibes down their spines. Like he was anticipating a particularly one-sided fight.

 _Inside the house..._

Dino didn't know what to think of the Vongola heiress and Reborn's new unlucky student. Though the baby seemed a hell of a lot more gentle with her than he ever was with him.

Probably because she was a girl.

Or at least that's what he assumed for all of an hour, before he found out the truth.

It was only natural he would wince when he heard the specifics from Reborn...which for very obvious reasons would be kept very firmly a secret until it blew open.

Finding out Sakura was blind was the last thing he expected to learn. She didn't act like it, and the way she moved spoke of training. A lot of training.

Seeing a second Arcobelano actually sitting on her shoulder looking perfectly at ease with being there was another surprise. He had heard of Fon, but hadn't actually been formally introduced.

And don't get him started on the girl's obvious boyfriend. It wasn't "official" according to Reborn, but one look at the way the two interacted and it was pretty damn obvious that the girl and her Cloud were dating. Hell, he was already getting some majorly dark looks from the kid!

Hearing Nana's yelp from upstairs, Dino suddenly realized he hadn't seen his pet Enzo in some time.

Considering Nana had been heading to the restroom, it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.

"Relax, stupid Dino. Sakura can handle this sort of thing better than you can. Just watch."

"But she can't see."

"She doesn't _need_ to see," said Reborn cryptically.

It was the only reason he had kept his silence on her condition to the Familigia.

Dino went upstairs...and found Enzo calmly sitting in her lap, despite the way he had to weigh at least a ton with how much water he absorbed.

The turtle was _never_ that calm around newcomers. He still bit Dino.

"What...how?" said Dino baffled.

"She has that effect on almost everyone...and her Flame is still firmly sealed," said Reborn smugly.

Watching her train with the little Chinese assassin with Fon occasionally correcting them both, Dino had to admit, her prospects as a Mafia Boss were better than his when he was her age.

Sakura had a quiet strength and a sort of magnetism that simply drew you in and didn't let go. And all of it was accomplished without any Flames.

"Hmm? It seems her ability drew you in too," said Reborn.

Dino blinked...then he realized that he hadn't tripped over anything or any other minor accident despite sending his men away for the night.

How strange.

Reborn smirked.

"How about a test for her growing Family?" said Reborn.

"I'm listening..."

"Count me out," said Fon without hesitation. "Not unless you bring popcorn first."


	8. Chapter 8

Sakura let out a squeak of surprise when she was picked up without warning while walking home from school with her friends. It took a few seconds to register Dino's presence.

"What's going on?"

"Reborn wants to play a prank on your Family. He wants to see if they'd jump into a dangerous situation if they thought you had been kidnapped," explained Dino.

Sakura blinked, before she slowly said... "You do realize that most of the yakuza in the area have fallen under the control of Kyou-chan and his Disciplinary Committee...right?"

"What?"

"Well there _is_ a local Yakuza gang, but after one time I went into the wrong area and ended up captured by them, Kyouya took control of it and has them on a tight leash to avoid a repeat."

Kyouya had not been pleased to find Sakura had ended up caught by the local Yakuza and had only felt very annoyed upon discovering her chatting in a friendly manner with the girls while drinking tea. They had taken one look at her dress and had immediately did a little kidnapping of their own.

It said a lot about her personality that the hookers and prostitutes who lived in the city all adored Sakura and knew her on sight. She didn't think less of them for their occupation or the fact they were in organized crime.

And Kyouya... well they usually tossed the "new recruits" his way to toughen them up and to insure they knew damn well who really ruled the area and his rules.

He got to bite people to death that would have otherwise caused trouble, and the ones that survived usually rose through the ranks very quickly.

Dino stared...before he started laughing.

"I don't believe this. Reborn said you had a budding Familigia, but from the sound of it you already have one through your Cloud!"

No wonder her name around town was Sakura-hime!

The fact she wasn't already firmly entrenched in the underworld was amazing, especially since there was so little actual information on her.

"Wao. Why are your two knights playing with the weaker branch of the weaker carnivores?" asked Hibari.

Fon snorted.

"Reborn came up with a 'prank' involving a kidnapped Sakura-hime and then sent them on the path of the weak carnivores to see how they would react. It shouldn't be long before they figure out it's a trick," said Fon.

Considering Sakura's phone rang around that time, she answered it.

"Hello? Hayato-kun, I'm perfectly fine. In fact Dino-san is right next to me as is Fon-sensei. Oh, so you found the newer recruits of Kyouya's friends? Tell Yoshi-san I said hi," said Sakura pleasantly.

You could hear Hayato's disbelieving voice...before another shouted hello back.

Reborn appeared around that time.

"Well it's about time for us to rescue them," he said. "The local yakuza is quite skilled in martial arts and is already started to make plans to take on some of the large Tokyo based groups."

Sakura huffed in exasperation.

"I think Yoshi-san will understand, considering they know better than to try and kidnap me. Unless it's the girls again for a shopping trip in the black market. Mama really likes some of the things they sell there."

Reborn paused.

"What."

"Well the yakuza in town are all under the indirect leadership of Kyou-chan. He lets them get away with minor crimes and 'plays' with their rookies and in exchange they serve under him if something comes up. Why did you think the town is so peaceful, even in the slums? Even Kyouya's Disciplinary Committee can't be everywhere all the time."

Reborn scowled. How the hell did he miss _that_?

"Wow... I've never seen him look this annoyed," said Dino.

"Considering the file I got from CEDEF is ridiculously out of date and is missing far too much, I have every reason to be irritable. And how the hell do you know where the black market is anyway?"

"Less crowded than the malls and they know to keep their voices down when I'm there," shrugged Sakura. She did most of her shopping there actually. It was where Mama was able to get her hands on a small kiln perfect for setting up in the back yard. The yakuza were even nice enough to fix it up for her for free.

Reborn looked suitably miffed.

"And don't get me started on the hospitals. They all adore Kyou-chan because he keeps them all very busy with easy to treat injuries," said Sakura cheerfully.

Dino snorted. A hospital would love a violent little brat like Hibari, because the most they would need is bandages, splints and anything for internal trauma.

"Hime! Why didn't you tell us Hibari had already conquered the yakuza?" said Hayato in disbelief.

The second the Momoyoukai found out they were looking for "Sakura-hime" and realized who they were talking about, they damn near fell over themselves trying to help find her, for almost identical reasons as the two teens.

The fear of having Hibari bite them to death for allowing Sakura to be kidnapped was a very powerful and terrifying thing. Almost as bad as what their wives would do to them if they didn't help.

It was an unspoken fact Sakura had an odd habit of matching the more successful members with women that could both tolerate their lifestyle and wouldn't get on their ass about the little stuff.

Instead they'd just gang up on their men to get them to behave or else.

Reborn grumbled under his breath as Fon snickered at him.

"You could have asked me you know. I do at least keep tabs on my grandson and his girlfriend," said Fon. His daughter was more than happy to send him letters on the matter. Including pictures.

* * *

Dino had to admit, sitting still for a sculpture was strange... but not as much as watching Reborn sitting on his little hammock calmly reading the paper while classical music played in the background without once trying to cause trouble.

Or seeing the little assassin kids painting on a plastic sheet and actually _behaving_.

Fon was sitting on the bed leaning against Sakura and openly napping.

"And that should be enough to work with," said Sakura pleased.

Dino looked at the rough shape of the clay. It was really good, and totally worth letting her get a feel of his face so she could make it more accurate. If he didn't know any better he'd swear he had suddenly turned to clay or something.

"I'm surprised you haven't tried using stone instead of clay."

"Too noisy and my hand could slip. Besides, clay is much more forgiving and easier to work with. But if you think I'm good you should see Bel and his ice sculptures sometime. We occasionally hit art museums and he describes the work for me," said Sakura.

"Sounds like a nice guy."

"He's a bloodthirsty, psychotic prince who has far too much fun competing with Kyou-chan over who can dispose of the most amateur hit men and has a weird laugh," corrected Sakura. She could feel the incredulous air around Dino, especially when she continued "And I'm fairly certain he's a professional assassin who only agreed to be nice to me because I actually treat him like the exiled prince he is and not like the spoiled brat he behaves like a lot."

"Sakura-hime, who exactly is Bel?" said Reborn dangerously. Dino winced from the tone alone. It spoke of humiliating training sessions in the new future.

Fon woke up and snorted from amusement.

"She's talking about the Varia Storm officer," said Fon.

Reborn was absolutely twitching at the moment. Dino cringed, and was very, very glad that he wasn't the man's student anymore.

"You know a member of the Varia personally to the point he allows you to call him 'Bel'?" he said, twitching.

"She knows most of them, save for the Lightning and Cloud. I'm sure Squalo will have a good long laugh when he finds out she's corrupted Dino," corrected Fon.

Reborn did not look happy, though only Fon caught most of what the man was saying. He was smiling peacefully but was absolutely enjoying the torment Sakura-hime unintentionally put the Sun through.

If Iemitsu didn't end up in intensive care when Reborn got his hands on him, he'd be surprised.

Dino let off a nervous laugh.

How was being blind a disadvantage again? This girl had bigger balls than he did when he was still in training and she was a civilian at the time!

To think, Reborn couldn't inflict his usual training methods on her because she had lost her sight due to trauma, which meant any more might make things worse!

"Are there any other surprises you'd like to spring on me?"

"Not at the moment," said Sakura after thinking on it.

Reborn grumbled under his breath in irritation.

He was going to kill Iemitsu for this.

* * *

It was such a peaceful day. For about five minutes.

Then Reborn started swearing rather loudly and with great relish and variety when Hayato practically started shouting about the "Hime being kidnapped for real this time!" and how he was going to brutally murder whoever was responsible since he doubted Reborn would play the same trick twice.

For one thing, there weren't any other organized groups in Namimori that could possibly think kidnapping Sakura was a smart move. Kyouya had conquered and dominated them all, even if Reborn hadn't found that out until his little prank.

Kyouya was terrifyingly efficient when it came to keeping his Sakura-hime safe.

Finding out she had befriended the majority of the Varia officers was bad enough. Especially when she pulled out a few sculptures that she had in the back she had been meaning to send, because it meant he couldn't pretend she was joking when he clearly recognized them, from Squalo's ridiculously long hair and sword arm to Viper's familiar cowl and frog.

He was so killing Iemitsu for this.

 _With Sakura..._

Most girls, especially those who couldn't see, would be panicking at the moment.

With her, it was more of a way to hide how annoyed she was. She might be shy, but she wasn't some whimpering wallflower when there was danger around!

Kyou-chan and Fon made very certain of that.

She didn't play up her act too much...among other things Fon taught her how to play the victim when she was being held captive so she could come from behind and turn out to be a dragon in disguise. She didn't need sight to hear the thugs laugh coldly about leaving her in a darkened room with only limited light, tied up firmly with some old rope.

Once assured they weren't coming in anytime soon, she used the skills Fon trained into her to undo the bindings. Luckily she never kept her staff anywhere obvious. Most people wouldn't think to check a girl's socks for a weapon.

And they didn't know she spoke Italian fluently.

Apparently some rival Familigia of the Vongola... the Esterneo... had heard rumors of her existence and thought her an easy target because she was A, a girl, and B, mentally handicapped.

Her retaliation of pain was going to be extra unpleasant when she got her hands on those jerks. She wasn't mentally handicapped, regardless of what the rumors said!

She hid a smile, and was very, very glad hair pins were a part of her wardrobe. Not only did they keep the bangs out of her face, but they were so very useful as lockpicks.

Then again Reborn had yet to realize Fon had literally trained her to behave like a hit man/thief, for when they graduated high school. Mostly because while he suspected she had Sky flames, he wasn't entirely sure so had decided to be prepared in case she wasn't.

She had the lock undone within minutes, and considering the sounds beyond the door it was clear she was somewhere underground. It was hard to tell when she had been roughly carried and the noises overlapped so much that it made 'seeing' difficult.

Well, she wasn't going to get out and dance some fools to death for this little stunt just standing there.

 _Outside the base..._

Dino had been quick to join in the search and rescue of Sakura-hime...and now even he was calling her that. Great.

It felt weird working with several yakuza types that normally took offense to outsiders, but this was a special case. Not only had the girl wormed her way into what remained of their humanity, but she had them by the balls via her Cloud Hibari. The reason she was so well loved was easy to understand. She treated them like humans and didn't take advantage of them.

Hibari for the most part was only mildly irritated and for some reason amused.

Hayato was outright panicking and had to be held back by Reborn. Basically he was acting like a typical Storm.

Dino walked over to where Hibari was.

"Why are you amused?" he asked, if only to get his mind off things.

"Because odds are we'll mostly be doing the mopping up when we find her."

"...What?"

"Sakura-hime isn't exactly the shy little princess you seem to think she is. Take a look at them... they know just as well as I do she can handle herself until we get there and she has an advantage her kidnappers don't. All she has to do is take out the lights and she'll have the upper hand without having to lift a finger against them."

"What."

Reborn came and sat on Hibari's shoulder.

"How bad?"

"She hasn't killed anyone yet, but all those times I took her out to dancing? We didn't exactly 'dance'."

Reborn looked ready to strangle someone. Preferably Iemitsu.

An hour later they found her...and the broken and groaning bodies of her victims.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

Dino stared at the stick he had thought was her walking cane.

It wasn't.

"I see you got to practice those forms I taught you earlier," said Fon pleased.

"They were really effective, Fon-sensei!" she said far too cheerfully.

"How?"

"Did I forget to mention that she's been training in advanced forms of staff fighting since she was around eight?" said Hibari smugly. "I bite people... she dances them to death."

"Dances?" repeated Dino in disbelief. What an odd term to call it.

Seeing her 'loosen up' after basically beating several rent-a-thugs into unconsciousness, he could start to understand what he meant by that. With the way she moved, it did look like dancing of a sort. And it was also pretty clear she had gotten quite a bit of gymnastic training or possibly a lot of yoga. She was very flexible.

If he didn't know for a fact she was blind, he never would have suspected it.

Smart move on Fon's part then.


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura couldn't help but feel a genuine glimmer of respect as a fighter from the men Dino brought. The yakuza already knew she was dangerous in her own right...she just didn't enjoy it as much as Kyouya did.

However the Italians never suffered through the same "initiation test" that the local gangs put the rookies through which mostly consisted of one goal.

Survive an encounter with an angry Hibari Kyouya and calm Sawada Sakura alive. To be fair, most of those Sakura beat were lucky...while she didn't hold back her hits she was a lot less likely to hit someplace that did permanent damage like Kyouya did.

According to the survivors, Sakura had immediately gone after the power grid then used her smaller size to her advantage by keeping well out of the way of the thugs while sending out distractions. She only got physical shortly before the group arrived.

Reborn was impressed and said so outright. Fon was pleased and made a note to teach her some of the harder staff moves later as a reward.

Kyouya just wished this had happened when they were alone so he could have kissed her senseless. Displays of power like this were a major turn on for him. Especially when it was coming from his little bird.

Fon smirked at his grandson, as if knowing what was on the boy's mind. Ah, the fun of raising teenagers.

* * *

However that wasn't the end of people from Italy coming to cause trouble. Sakura found herself facing another issue less than a week and a half after the incident.

And it was all because of a little boy who really needed help.

Sakura found the little boy (who was thankfully older than Lambo or I-Pin...maybe nine or so) who was causing things to float. It wasn't doing any harm, so she left him alone. Then she heard what he was actually saying and her eyebrows went up a bit.

Was he trying to rank her abilities? How strange.

"Ah! Sakura-nee!" he said in surprise, realizing she was right there.

She raised an eyebrow, but her warm smile remained.

"Hello little one. What's your name?"

Suddenly the boy jolted, as if he saw something. Her senses alerted her to a large group of older men who didn't belong. Her hand lashed out and she pulled him into one of the many alcoves of the school until they were safely out of sight.

"Thanks, Sakura-nee!"

"I take it they're after you?" she asked.

He nodded, then belatedly realized something.

"They want my book."

So he already knew she was blind? How interesting.

Sakura pulled out her phone and dialed the second number.

"Kyou-chan, it seems like another bunch of Italians is here to make trouble again. No, they don't seem to be after me specifically, but they do want a little boy. Sure, I can take him to the roof."

The little boy looked at her confused, but didn't fight back as she lead him through the school and onto the roof. Almost immediately Hibari was there.

"What happened?"

"I found him on the school grounds and he was doing something, and after he realized I was there a small group of men came after him. He said they want his book," said Sakura.

Hibari looked at the little boy, who promptly did his best puppy dog eyes at him.

"Small animal, why are they after you?"

The boy pulled out a large, almost massive book.

"I can rank people with a hundred percent accuracy, and in the underworld anyone who has this sort of information can move up very quickly," he said quietly.

"He also called me 'Sakura-nee' and apparently already knew I am blind," she informed him.

Hibari gave the kid a look.

"You're going to drag Sakura-hime into this aren't you?"

The kid went to a specific series of pages, and pointed out her name.

"Out of the mafia, Sakura-nee is ranked number one at not turning down requests from small children, the last for ambition, and the among the top fifty when it comes to combat ability from those with Flames. The Todd family barely rates in the top hundred," he informed Hibari.

"Oh? And where do I fit in the combat ability rankings?"

"Top twenty-five, though it's been a while since I ranked you," said the kid immediately. Hibari was definitely pleased to hear that. "Though if you want your rankings as a Cloud Guardian... you're in the number one spot, right above that of the Cloud Arcobaleno Skull."

"Alright small animal, if you want Sakura-hime's help I'll allow it. Stay here until the end of school and I'll walk you home," said Hibari, in a very good mood. Sakura ruffled the boy's hair.

"You definitely earned his approval, little one. What's your name?"

"Fuuta. They call me the Ranking Prince, Sakura-nee."

Sakura sat down and hugged Fuuta. He certainly didn't seem to mind it, in fact she could feel him relaxing in her arms. Clearly the poor kid had been chased quite a bit, and was exhausted.

Well, they certainly had a room already housing small children and she didn't think Lambo or I-Pin would mind sharing a room with a third child.

Fuuta was holding her hand rather tightly as they went back to the house. Fon took one look at the boy and blinked.

"Why is the Ranking Prince here?"

"He's being chased," said Sakura. "Hypothetically if I were to grant him sanctuary with our group, what would happen?"

"Then anyone seeking to purchase rankings from him would have to go through you first, if he agrees to the protection. Generally speaking he's supposed to be a neutral entity. But then again so are you, to a point, because you haven't been officially recognized as a Vongola yet. You're still just a _potential_ heir until the rings are distributed," said Fon.

Fuuta happily accepted the juice from the fridge and sat down. Now they just had to wait, because Sakura had honest doubts a mere mafioso could possibly handle someone like Kyouya.

They didn't have to wait long. And unfortunately for the mafioso chasing Fuuta, they had no idea of the demon lying in wait for them to arrive.

Hibari was positively grinning as he walked outside the house and into full view of the Italians.

"For the crime of crowding and disturbing the peace of Namimori, I will bite you to death," he said viciously.

The mafioso laughed, mocking him because they mistook him for an ordinary civilian. And then they saw Fon, calmly bringing out a tea set and some snacks to watch the show.

"I'll grade the beat down, _grandson_ ," he said smirking.

"Wao. I don't need your approval you damn carnivore," said Hibari. He raised his tonfa and charged right in.

Their mocking laughter turned into screams of pain and agony as the vicious Cloud Guardian ripped through them like wet tissue paper. Fon ignored the screaming and was smiling as he took in his grandson's skills.

The brat might not like him, but he at least didn't complain about all the lessons on how to fight with his precious tonfa. And that was before his daughter's brother-in-law took the kid to learn how to fight dirty from some of his cop buddies.

There was brutality, and then there was police brutality. And Kyouya was a very enthusiastic student when it came to both.

Sakura, on the other hand, was cheerfully asking Fuuta what he wanted to eat that night. The kid was practically skin and bones, and tired to boot.

Fon was sitting on Hibari's shoulder, ignoring the small amounts of blood spatter from some rather vicious hits.

"Wao. Small animal, do opponents like them show up after you often?" said Hibari.

Fuuta winced and Sakura pulled him into a hug.

"I'll take that as a yes. We're keeping him here," said Hibari pleased.

"You just want more fake carnivores like those idiots to show up so you can fight them off," scolded Sakura. The fact he didn't deny it said volumes.

Fuuta blinked.

"Really?" he asked.

"You're welcome to stay here if you want Fuuta. Like you said, I have zero interest in your book and the only thing Kyou-chan cares about is fighting off the idiots who come after you. At most your rankings would just be used to put him in a better mood and more inclined to show something that _almost_ resembles mercy," said Sakura.

Fuuta's eyes began to tear up. The poor kid had been an orphan for some time because of his abilities and he was always chased to get to his book.

"There, there. You're safe here," said Sakura soothingly, rubbing his back.

It was the first decent night's sleep he had gotten since he realized the danger he was in as the Ranking Prince.

* * *

Reborn waited for Fuuta to get settled in before he asked a serious question.

"What are Sakura-hime's rankings as a mafia boss?"

He needed to send _something_ to the Vongola as proof that she was a very strong candidate for Decimo. Timoteo was getting rather antsy since Reborn hadn't been sending in very many reports that gave him a solid answer.

Sending a copy of her rankings would go a long way to shutting them up and an honest answer to somethings he wanted answered himself.

As predicted, everything started to float around Fuuta.

"Sakura-hime's ability to convert enemies into allies is ranked at the number one. Her ability to handle difficult subordinates without resorting to violence is number one. Her skills at hiding in plain sight is ranked at number one. Her ability to fight without Flames is ranked at twenty-seven. Her ability to inspire others is ranked at number one. Her untapped potential is currently out of range,"said Fuuta, who immediately wrote it down twice.

"It's that high?"

"No, the Ranking Planet doesn't have a number to quantify her potential."

Well that brought up a lot of questions on it's own.

"So her potential as a Boss is fairly high? What about her ranking as a mere figurehead?"

Fuuta checked.

"Her potential as a mere figurehead of the Vongola...is ranked dead last. Her ranking should they attempt such a thing rates her as number one to create a new Familigia unintentionally and inspire them to revolt against the current Family and replace it."

Reborn winced. He shouldn't have asked, but he had to.

He wondered how Iemitsu would react if he saw that ranking.

"Fuuta! Reborn! Dinner!" shouted Nana.

They went downstairs and Reborn showed Fon the rankings. The Storm snorted.

"Considering Kyouya only took the shadow leadership of the yakuza in the area for Sakura-hime's sake, that doesn't surprise me in the least."

"I'm debating on whether to share that particular ranking with the Vongola," said Reborn.

"Have Fuuta give it to them in person if they make a fuss. Otherwise leave it."

Reborn agreed. He even cut off that part because he didn't want them to find out he had asked such a thing.

* * *

 _In the Vongola Headquarters..._

Timoteo looked at one of the now rare reports sent by Reborn on little Sakura's training. Except it was a bit thicker than normal.

Closer examination revealed why. Reborn had apparently stumbled across the Ranking Prince and gotten a ranking on the girl he was training.

Most of her rankings were very favorable, considering he was hoping to change the family back to the way things were when the Vongola first started out, not what it had become. He just wished he didn't have to sacrifice a little girl who had been raised a civilian with a Flame seal to the underworld like this.

Further inspection of the letter spoke favorably of Sakura's ability to lead the family. She had taken the Ranking Prince in and her Cloud Guardian had agreed to deal with anyone who sought to take the child by force. So she had found the Ranking Prince, not Reborn.

He did wonder why Reborn wasn't sending regular reports. It was almost like he was hiding something.

* * *

"You really shouldn't tease the poor boy so," said Fon. He almost sounded like he was scolding Reborn.

Reborn huffed.

"If Hayato wants to remain the Storm Guardian he's going to have to learn some variety when it comes to fighting. His ability to use bombs is adequate, but considering they bother the princess he needs something to fall back on. Either that or we train her to not flinch and go into a panic attack when loud noises like explosions happen."

He was slowly acclimatizing her to loud noises, but it wasn't enough to get her used to loud explosions. Lambo was a brat, but at least he could be useful in training her not to go into a panic attack.

She could stand small explosions now, even if it wrecked her ability to 'see' via sound.

Fon scoffed.

"I suppose I could help the boy shift his Flames from Active to 'Useful'," he said.

"Let him sweat a little bit. He still hasn't figured out why Shamal dropped him as a student," said Reborn flatly.

The boy was _very_ dedicated to his Sky...but he had no sense of self worth and was likely to get himself and his Sky killed with how little he thought of his own life.

Once he got that lesson through his thick head, then Shamal might finish his training.

 _With Hayato..._

"No," said Hibari flatly.

"Why not?" asked Hayato.

"I don't train puppy knights into carnivores," said Hibari. "Why are you so interested in this now anyway?"

"Reborn said something about Fon replacing me as Hime's Storm Guardian."

Hibari looked openly irritated now. Then again, mentioning Fon usually did that for him.

"Wao. Stupid puppy, can't you see he's playing a fast one on you?"

Hayato was just glad Hibari didn't kick his ass for bothering him.

"Well how else am I supposed to figure out how to fight without my explosives?"

"Ask the damn carnivore. He trained the little bird from a chick into a bird of prey," said Hibari without any sympathy. "Now leave."

Considering Hibari was being unusually lenient with him for annoying him with this, Hayato left.

There was silence, then...

"Fake baby, if you even think of bothering me I will not hesitate to tell Sakura who it was that ate the last of her favorite ice cream," said Hibari.

"..."

Hibari rolled over, pleased the fake baby had left him alone.

 _With Fon..._

The Storm Arcobaleno was sipping his tea calmly. Claiming he had harmonized with the Vongola heiress was the best move he had made in a long time. The home was peaceful, but at the same time danced the dangerous edge of chaos. And he got to tease his grandson while teaching his students.

Things were good.

And wouldn't you know it, chaos came back to visit him in the form of the "Puppy Knight" as Kyouya insisted on calling him.

"Please teach me," he asked, conceding defeat.

"Depends on what you want to learn. You don't have nearly the amount of dedication to martial arts I require in my apprentices, and I do not rely on explosives," said Fon.

"I want to protect hime without hurting her by accident," said Hayato.

Fon gave him a side-long look.

"I can teach you how to use your Flames, but how far you make it is entirely up to you. Perhaps you can even figure out the reason why Shamal ended his stint as your teacher in the process," said Fon, sipping his tea.


	10. Chapter 10

**I LIVE! Sorry folks, it's been a rather unpleasant month and my mother just got out of the hospital.**

* * *

There was a decently loud explosion outside, which made Sakura flinch but otherwise nothing happened.

Except when she went outside to investigate she found... a sleepy looking man who felt very familiar in a sleeping kimono.

"Oh~? Seems the little bull accidentally hit my younger self with the ten year bazooka. I'll have to remind the brat of his place later for this..."

"Kyou-chan?" she asked in disbelief. Mentally she was relieved that she was at home alone. Then again, no one would be able to get to her while Hibari was coming over.

Lambo had already fled the scene the second he registered who was at the gate. He didn't want to be scolded by Sakura-nee for attacking Hibari.

Her confused disbelief suddenly turned to shock when Hibari smirked...and promptly pulled her into a very thorough kiss.

Her blush was so strong she would swear her face was a solid red color.

"You're still as beautiful as ever, my Hime," said Kyouya with a purr. "I never thought I'd be graced with your adorable face before the seal was finally removed and you started to heal. You were so innocent back then."

That blush increased two-fold, but she vaguely registered his words.

"You mean..."

Kyouya's hand on her face was uncharacteristically gentle.

"Wait for the dragon of wrath to arrive, hime. The 'young lion' that shows up to warn you of his coming might cause harm, but the dragon will always protect you once your magic takes effect on him. You're not the only one that the Ninth has left scars on, even if his are more visible."

She hugged Kyouya, and he stroked her hair.

"Don't worry little bird... the rainbow will seek out the Princess once they realize what you mean to them," he said. He switched out with his younger self who noticed who was hugging him and relaxed.

That was odd. Especially since a slightly longer haired Sakura was there and immediately gave him a proper kiss on the lips the second she realized who he was.

The thing that struck him most about that place was that Sakura-hime could see him properly.

Though he definitely had no complaints about the odd incident, considering it was the first time Sakura actually kissed him... and not on the cheek like usual. Her blushing face was positively adorable.

Hibari growled in a possessive manner, before stating with absolute certainty "Mine."

* * *

Fon smirked outside the house. He took a few pictures before sending them to his daughter.

 _I win the bet~_

It was about time those two admitted their feelings for each other!

* * *

Hibari was twitching, and sadly this was one moment when his violent behavior wouldn't help. They'd only call him a Tsundere or something.

His mother was positively cooing and the damn carnivore just looked overbearingly smug.

"I'm so proud of you! It's about time you and Sakura-chan admitted your feelings to each other!" said his mother excitedly. Nana was already having a similar "talk" with Sakura, to her mortification.

Thank the gods she only had to suffer it with Nana and Bianchi, with Reborn firmly out of the way so the girls could have some time alone.

Hibari wasn't as lucky.

Kyouya was growling in annoyance. He didn't want to hear this nonsense from his mother, much less with Fon in the room.

"You two are such an adorable couple!" cooed his mother.

"I hope you'll at least use restraint," said Fon, chipping in with far too much amusement.

Hibari snorted.

"I'm not going to jump her just yet. I'd rather wait until she can see again before we even remotely go that far," said Hibari flatly.

Fon nodded with approval. With the rate she was going, that meant they had plenty of time to settle into the new dynamic before they moved into a physical relationship.

Then Hibari remembered something odd Sakura mentioned from his "Future" self.

"Do you know anyone who goes by the nickname of the 'young lion'?" asked Hibari.

Fon blinked.

"Why?"

"Apparently my older self mentioned that a 'dragon of wrath' would come and that it would be followed by a 'young lion' that would cause harm. Something about how the Ninth left scars on the dragon," said Hibari.

Fon's smile went a tad brittle.

There was only one way to interpret that. Xanxus would come and with him Iemitsu would follow, likely in some misguided attempt to 'help' his daughter.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Something vague about how the 'rainbow' would 'seek her out once they realized what she meant to them'. I wasn't really paying attention when the switch happened."

Fon looked openly thoughtful.

It sounded like Sakura-hime was their true Sky, the one that they had sought for so long after Luce's betrayal. Even Reborn admitted he had noticed himself harmonizing with Sakura-hime, but as it was a slow process he wasn't about to report it until he was positive that's what it was.

If he was wrong and he canceled his contract for the wrong reason, it would look badly on him.

However Fon knew she was his Sky. The way he felt around her was proof enough.

"In any case I suppose we'll have to go over basic safety measures for when you do become active," said Fon smirking.

Hibari's patience snapped. He raised his tonfa in preparation for going after Fon. Fon kept on smiling, though his was almost as bloodthirsty.

Hibari had to get his behavior from someone, after all.

 _With Sakura..._

Her face was a solid red, as her mother had immediately started talking about 'contraceptives' the second she found out Sakura had confessed her feelings for Hibari and he was quick to share his own. At this point she was just happy Reborn had decided to annoy the boys rather than try to sneak his way into this particular talk. It was bad enough Bianchi was allowed inside.

"A young maiden in love is a wonderful thing. And you have the childhood sweetheart as your first love to boot," said Bianchi with a sigh.

Sakura's blush firmly stayed in place. At least the older girl was on her side.

"So what finally tipped you over the edge into confessing?" asked Bianchi, as Nana went to get more tea and snacks.

"Lambo accidentally hit him with the Ten Year Bazooka and his older self immediately kissed me once he saw me," said Sakura.

Bianchi chuckled.

"Sounds like you're a lot more than just friends in the future."

"Considering I'm fairly certain I felt a ring on his right hand..." said Sakura.

"Definitely more than friends. Well at least you know he's loyal and not afraid to stir up some trouble to make you happy. I wish Reborn would conquer the smaller Familigias for my sake," said Bianchi.

"Not likely. The way he acts, I'm certain he's had plenty of lovers and he doesn't really bother to impress a girl. He just lets his looks and personality do it for him," snorted Sakura, her blush finally subsiding.

The fact Bianchi didn't dispute it said volumes. Reborn was a notorious playboy and he had a string of flings longer than her arm. He rarely went home without someone new to add to his list of conquests.

But for someone like Bianchi, who had a much smaller list of boyfriends who had all been very disappointing, Reborn was more or less considered a 'safe' option until she found someone new.

Mostly because she knew he wouldn't take it seriously and had probably known before she had that this was more of a rebound for her to heal from her last failure at finding a real boyfriend. It didn't hurt that Reborn was trapped as an infant which was absolutely _not_ one of her kinks, thank you very much.

Probably why he humored her so much.

Nana walked in with the tea pot and some more snacks.

"Sounds almost like when I met Iemitsu," she sighed tiredly. "He was o charming and handsome, and his odd friends liked to call him the 'young lion'."

Sakura froze the second she heard that.

"Oh... so that's what he meant."

"What who meant?"

"The older Hibari. He said the 'young lion' that would show up to warn of a dragon's arrival would cause harm, but he implied that meeting the dragon would start the 'healing process'."

Nana froze. Bianchi looked openly confused by that.

"What does that mean?"

"Sakura's blindness was caused by some form of severe mental trauma. Physically there's nothing wrong with her sight, but my ex-husband did something that caused what the doctor's called 'psychosomatic trauma', which means that she has the _ability_ to see but her brain can't access it at the moment because of whatever he did to her. It's why I divorced him once I found the right lawyers and I realized he didn't even regret what he had done to her. He acted like nothing was wrong," said Nana tightly.

Bianchi winced, but hugged the girl tighter to her.

Iemitsu would find himself on the wrong end of her most painful poison cooking for hurting his child. Sakura was the sweetest, most forgiving girl she had met. She was even helping her half-brother to heal, and if that wasn't enough to get Bianchi to like her, then her personality did the rest.

* * *

Sakura had trouble being around Hibari for a full week, but managed to overcome it after being locked in the same room as him by Reborn.

"Mine," said Hibari.

She snuggled into him.

"Fon said something about a mafia-run theme park and a...friend...who works there."

Hibari looked at her.

"I don't do crowds."

"And you know I can't handle beaches with a large number of people. Do you really want to leave me with only Reborn and the puppy knight to keep the idiots who will undoubtedly try to pick me up?" she asked.

Hibari cursed silently.

Reborn would only encourage it in the hopes of getting his little bird to fight them off or to 'inspire' the puppy knight. And the bomber idiot still hadn't gotten the hang of fighting without making a lot of noise.

The last time Sakura attempted to go to the beach without him, there had been a rather big mess to clean up. It was just lucky that his almost-carnivores had been there as well and were quick to diffuse the situation, because she was too cute and innocent not to attract the wolves around her.

She looked and acted like 'prey', despite being a carnivore in her own right. It pissed him off to no end.

"Wao. Alright little bird, I'll join you only if I'm allowed to bite anyone who bothers you to death."

Sakura beamed at him.

Fon agreed to pay for Kyouya's ticket, if only to ruin Reborn's obvious plan to cause a lot of chaos and show off Sakura's ability to fight. It was also training in that it would put her in contact with a lot of hostiles and loud noises, two things she hated.

Besides, it would be totally worth going just to see Colonello's face when he met Sakura-hime.

* * *

The cruise ship was nice, but it was a bit hectic as Kyouya immediately enforced order on the two little ones.

"Wao. Behave around the hime or else," said Kyouya.

Lambo and I-Pin immediately stayed put when he caught them.

Reborn pouted.

"You're no fun at all Fon."

"Consider the entertainment of seeing the reaction the mafioso have to my grandson, and then seeing the Princess keep him in line _and_ show off her skills as a leader."

Reborn considered that before he smirked. They would dismiss her as a pampered princess only to discover the hawk that laid in wait for the unwary. She was so sweet and innocent that no one would acknowledge her as a threat until it was too late.

The shock alone would be totally worth watching.

As they left the ship, it didn't take long for the first part of Reborn's plan to play out. Namely leaving Sakura (and by extension Hibari) to deal with signing in.

He grinned evilly when he heard the yelps, followed by the loud squeak from the princess as they were shuffled off to the backstage to meet Colonello.

 _With Sakura and Hibari..._

The Cloud was definitely not pleased with being shoved into a train and sent all the way to another side of the island. But at least he got to beat up a few idiots before they managed that, so it wasn't a total loss.

"What do we have here, kora? A pair of lovebirds who forgot their minder?"

Sakura blinked, seeing a double image. Then her expression cleared of confusion as she realized what she was looking at.

"Oh, you're like Reborn and Fon. No wonder he was particularly eager to come here. I thought he was being a brat like usual," said Sakura.

There was a pause.

"You know Fon and that jerk Reborn, kora?"

Sakura got up and dusted herself off.

"Let's see if I remember this right... I'm Fon's Sky and Reborn is my home tutor."

"..."

"I see you've met my student," said Reborn smugly.

Sakura flinched the second the loud rifle started going off so close to her. Hibari covered her ears without hesitation, relieving some of the sound.

"That's not very nice," said Reborn.

"What sort of mafia-brat flinches at the sound of guns?" said Colonello incredulous.

"The kind with incredibly sensitive hearing," said Hibari, giving the blond pest a very angry glare.

"At least this area is quieter than the main one," said Sakura.

"Word to the wise Colonello, she can't swim this close to the ocean. You can have fun on land, but avoid the water."

"You're being unusually nice to this one. What gives, kora?"

"Sound carries too easily over water, and it throws her off. I'd rather not have her pissy Cloud over here after my head. Especially since Fon would help," said Reborn flatly.

Hearing the sound of a bird, Sakura smiled. The animal immediately flew to her hand, which was in a fist so it could sit easily.

"Hello there! What's your name?"

"His name is Falco. Never seen him take to someone so quick, kora."

"She has that effect on people, especially animals. Then again you're the idiot who's in love with a tsundere like Lal."

"I thought I heard something rude just now, kora," said Colonello raising his rifle again.

Hibari covered her ears as a precaution, while Sakura cooed over Falco.

Colonello was a bit put out about the fact he couldn't throw her in with the sharks, but he managed to find something he could do to make her stay rather memorable.

Even if it took him a hour to find out she was blind.

"What the hell, kora?! There's no way that's true!"

"To be fair, it took Reborn almost two months to figure that out," said Sakura, getting up from where she had taken to the trees to avoid Colonello.

Colonello looked at Reborn. The Sun grumbled under his breath.

"Fon's trained her too well to hide the condition. She sees with sound and flame pulses, which means she'll likely avoid the main areas of the island anyway."

"...You mean like that American series called _Daredevil_ with the vigilante lawyer who takes out scum with martial arts skills and a pair of nun chucks?" asked Colonello slowly.

"She uses a staff, but similar enough I suppose. I haven't seen the movie or read the series."


	11. Chapter 11

Hibari was positively murderous with the noise level as a particularly foolish set of herbivores attacked the island. Mainly because Sakura was looking on the verge of one of her panic attacks and they very much needed their Sky to be able to function.

So he promptly scooped her up and allowed her to center herself while he walked her back to the hotel. Reborn and the new fake baby Colonello were sleeping, and Fon had been watching the girls while they had been hijacked by Reborn's prank.

By the time they reached the hotel, she was more or less calmed down...if still holding his shirt in a death grip.

Inside was pandemonium and he hated every second of it. And if he thought the noise level was loud, then it had to be torture for Sakura.

Spotting the puppy knight, he shared a look with him. He covered her ears while Gokudera set off a minor flashbang.

Surprisingly, Sakura was the first to recover. She was _pissed_.

"You are all grown mafioso, so start acting like it and quite reverting to a bunch of squabbling five year olds!" she scolded them, flaring her aura at them all in a disapproving manner.

Her unhappy face was beyond cute, but it was the aura she projected that calmed things down. Fon jumped onto Hibari's shoulder, as the children were safe with Bianchi.

"It seems she's been breaking through the seal on her own," he said quietly in Chinese.

"That, or it's all her," said Hibari in the same language.

Because if that wasn't Sky Aura, then clearly he hadn't paid enough attention to Fon's explanation of Flames and their types.

"Oh yeah? What Family are you with little girl?" sneered one particularly dense idiot with a familiar accent. Seeing several other fools nod in agreement, Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Vongola. And if you don't settle down, I'm sure my boyfriend and his grandfather would be delighted to make you," she said calmly.

Hibari took his queue with relish, hugging his girlfriend around the waist with a vicious smirk. His expression alone said how "happily" he would take the task she suggested.

These almost-carnivores were pathetic.

If the name of her Familigia wasn't enough to shut them up, finding out Fon was allied with her was plenty enough incentive. Especially since he didn't disagree with the idea of making them "settle down"...which meant he'd kick their ass until they were out cold.

However there was one pair who didn't automatically agree to follow her lead.

"Shishishi..."

Sakura perked up.

"Hi Bel! Hi Mammon!"

"What are you two doing here?" asked Fon in concern.

"Mu. We came for the annual assault on the island. Belphegor has been getting rather irritating so the Boss ordered him to blow off some steam on the island. The better question is why is Sakura-hime here?" demanded Mammon.

"Wait. This place gets assaulted regularly enough that they have a schedule for it?" said Kyouya annoyed.

"Yes, now answer the question."

"I'm going to kill that fake baby," growled Kyouya.

Mammon looked to Sakura.

"My new home tutor brought us here on the pretense of a vacation without telling us anything. Meeting Colonello and Falco was interesting, but I could do without the loud racket they're making," said Sakura.

"Mu. I think I want to meet this home tutor of yours and find out exactly _why_ he brought you here," said Mammon.

And why Sakura claimed to be a Vongola, because she was really hoping she was wrong and that the 'home tutor' wasn't actually Reborn. Because if it was, then the Boss might very well kill the only civilian they could stand for long periods.

What could only be described as barely organized chaos as the mafioso followed Sakura's calming lead.

Mammon was firmly on her shoulder, with Belphegor hovering around...somewhere. He had probably gone to kill a few idiots without being yelled about it later. It was why they had come at this time, after all.

And then they somehow ended up on the backstage, where Skull was making a nuisance of himself.

"Hahahaha! The great and powerful Skull-sama has arrived!"

Sakura had a massive headache, and looked to Mammon.

"Are you able to stay on someone's shoulder regardless of movement?" she asked.

"...I'll sit on your puppy."

Mammon promptly took a spot on Gokudera's shoulder, and he didn't argue.

Sakura took out a pair of tonfa, before making short work of everyone but Skull. Mainly because the Cloud Arcobaleno was too busy fighting Reborn.

Hearing the crack, Sakura winced. Poor Skull was just getting tossed around by Reborn, and she could tell by the tone alone he wasn't really into the idea of fighting the Sun.

"Reborn, stop bullying Skull. You are a grown man trapped in a child's body, now act your age," she scolded him.

Reborn grumbled.

"The lackey deserves it."

Sakura scowled.

"No one deserves to be humiliated like that. You've made your point already when you kicked him into the tree, now stop. Besides, I don't think he really wants to fight anyway. Do you Skull-san?" she said gently to the fallen Arcobaleno.

Skull whimpered as he felt cracked ribs, and once his helmet was removed gave her the most pitiful puppy dog eyes anyone had ever seen.

Sakura heard the sounds of even louder explosions and Colonello's cackles.

"Besides, it sounds like this little invasion is over with anyway. If I catch you bullying Skull-san again I'll have the Momoyoukai hide all the coffee products in the city and then make sure that all your favorites are hidden."

"You wouldn't dare," growled Reborn. He needed his coffee dammit!

"Watch me. You know the local Yakuza like me better than they do you," she countered.

"Shishishi... The Principessa has the Sun Arcobaleno by the balls," laughed Belphegor.

Skull looked ready to cry.

"There, there... I won't let that bully beat you up any more so long as you behave," said Sakura soothingly, picking up the Cloud.

Skull didn't even hesitate, firmly burying himself into the hug.

* * *

Reborn was twitching. There was no other word for it.

"How is it I convince you to go to a tropical paradise... and you spend most of your time with Colonello and end up dragging both him _and_ the damn Lackey back?!"

Sakura smirked.

"Well he wanted to train Hayato-kun some more, something about demolitions. And Skull just doesn't want to be roped into any more contracts that force him to be on the wrong side of a fight with you again... besides, Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta seem to love having him around."

Reborn grumbled under his breath in annoyance.

Skull had practically latched onto her when she verbally tore into the Calcassa family and basically threatened to bring the Vindice into it as they kept trying to invade "accorded neutral territory" because they were "pissy about not being allowed on and they were too cheap to change their practices".

Reborn might have thought she was joking...except apparently she had been paying attention to certain things when she visited the local yakuza wives, some of whom were particularly savvy about ruining people purely out of boredom. Two of which were lawyers, of all things.

If not for the fact Skull was clearly harmonizing with her, Reborn had very little doubts she _would_ have brought it up with the Vindice... if only because she was asking Colonello if they had the phone number for the group.

Sakura was very, very protective when she took a liking to someone. And since Skull was basically a little kid who liked to brag a lot that got taken advantage of...well, he was practically adopted the second she caught Reborn bullying him.

Before Reborn could say anything more, Sakura felt something above and immediately dove to the left. Reborn cursed, before he realized what he was looking at.

"Giannini, why did you try to crush her?"

"Reborn? The Ninth sent me. There's been a rash of assassination attempts, so everyone's getting an upgrade."

Reborn muttered unkind things under his breath. Then again he always got pissy whenever the Ninth was mentioned these days.

"So instead of sending CEDEF or the Varia to find out who's causing all the trouble, instead he just sends a blanket order to upgrade everyone's weapons. Even though it means they might have to take a few days to get used to the new ones, which means they could injure their own men," deadpanned Sakura. She face-palmed.

Honestly it was starting to sound a hell of a lot like Nono was losing it to dementia or overwork.

She 'eyed' the weapon's tuner and gave him a flat look.

"Keep your hands off my tonfa and staff. I like them the way they are just fine."

The man scoffed at such "primitive" weapons.

Sakura had a rather dark smirk when Reborn found out what his "modifications" did to his bullets. He was less than pleased. Though if Reborn was pissed, Hayato was ready to murder someone.

"This is why we told you to try something new instead of just bombs. You still have the weapons Colonello's been training you with, right?"

Hayato winced.

"I only have this handgun left. Mostly because I forgot it was in my back pocket when I handed my weapons to him..."

Sakura patted his head with sympathy. She often forgot her cane/staff was in her ankle holster. Or that she had left her tonfa in her school bag.

Hearing snickering nearby, Sakura looked somewhat irritated.

"It's not nice to laugh at others," she informed the duo outside the house.

"Hime, who are you talking to?"

"The two idiots snickering outside on the patio. They seem to find the fact that the fool upstairs made your weapons less effective and more like party favors."

Hayato looked outside and saw nothing.

However the two assassins in camouflage suits were panicking and for very good reason. Namely that she could 'see' them despite the suits being active.

Thinking it was a fluke, they attempted to enter the house... only for a less than amused Sakura to hit them both on the head with her tonfa.

"OW!"

"STUPID BITCH!"

Alarmed now, Hayato drew his gun.

"Hime, where are they?" he asked dangerously.

"Can't you see them?"

"I can't see anyone other than you!"

Sakura frowned, then remembered what the weapons tuner said.

"Oh, these must be the ones Giannini mentioned that had been targeting people. They must be wearing special suits to make them invisible..." she said in realization, before a smirk appeared on her face. "Too bad for you two that I can't see anyway!"

Reborn only came down when Sakura was done 'disciplining' the two would-be assassins. Needless to say he was openly amused to find a pair of twitching mafioso who had felt so superior, only to fail because their target didn't need eyes to locate them.

Of course even he had to groan when not a week later after the two idiots were sent packing into the hands of some very unhappy mafia families, Verde himself had to show up.

And the first thing he asked (read: demanded) of Sakura was "How in blazes did you defeat my camouflage suits?"

Apparently the two lackeys hadn't been quite clear on how she 'saw' them when her Storm couldn't.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at his tone.

"And who are you, sir?"

"His name is Verde, the Lightning Arcobaleno," said Reborn.

"Oh! The same Verde Fon spoke so highly of?" she said perking up.

Verde preened at the praise, before what she said registered.

He blinked.

"Ah. I was unaware that the Vongola Heiress I sent those two idiots to go after just to piss Reborn off was the same girl Fon mentioned had trouble with higher volume levels. My apologies, though that does explain how you beat the suits," said Verde calmly.

"Would you like some tea, or do you want me to dip into the stock of coffee beans Reborn thinks he's hidden from me the next time I threaten to cut him off?"

"Hands off my coffee woman!" said Reborn growling.

Verde smirked.

"Tea would be fine, thank you."

Reborn took one look at what was happening and groaned.

"For the love of... Are you seriously harmonizing with him as well?"

Verde blinked... then noticed what Reborn had.

"Fascinating."

"It's like she doesn't even have to try to harmonize with anyone! If she takes a liking to them, then end up part of her group within days!" complained Reborn.

Verde was hiding behind the cup Sakura had given him. The tea was perfect, and he could already feel his Flames relaxing around her.

"Have you considered the possibility that she might be a Transcendent?"

Transcendent Flames were considered a myth, because they could harmonize with _anyone_ , including other Skies. Said people were able to adjust their output without any effort at all to match that of a Flame they encountered, which meant that they could bond with almost anyone unless the other Flame was repugnant to them. Usually because they did something to offend the Sky in question.

Again, such a person would have to be ridiculously accepting of others and have an instinctive control over their Flames to the point it was second nature. The earlier they awakened, the more instinctive it became until they could rope anyone they wanted into their fold, even other Elements belonging to a Sky.

Considering most if not all Flames were in the Mafia and got training early on, such a thing was considered a fairy tale. Especially since Transcendent Skies would have been snatched up and corrupted into becoming a normal one.

Sakura, on the other hand... she might be an untouched Transcendent. It would explain a lot, like how she was able to bond with even Reborn without even trying.

Reborn stared at him, then at his charge.

He groaned, lightly banging his head on the table.

"Dammit... that explains far more than it doesn't."

"On the plus side, it's unlikely anyone's going to object to me being Decimo, right?"

Reborn banged his head on the table some more, amusing Verde endlessly. It was almost impossible to see the Sun like this, and it was rather hilarious.

If staying here meant he had access to someone like a possible Transcendent...well, he wasn't going to hesitate to move his lab to the city for quicker access, even if it meant going through her boyfriend.


	12. Chapter 12

Kyouya only put up with the presence of Verde and his experiments for a few very select reasons.

One, he put a tracker in Sakura's bell bracelets and gave the 'receiver' that allowed him to locate her at any time...which were fashioned into a pair of goggles that kept her location on the side so it wouldn't affect his vision.

Two, he allowed Kyouya or Fon to sit in on any experiments involving Sakura-hime. One of the first things he gave her was a pair of specially designed headphones that dampened sound to that of a normal person so she wouldn't be overwhelmed.

And three, upon seeing the resemblance of his new Sky and a certain anime character, he made a little robot who could cheerfully act like an almost perfect replica of the White Mokona Modoki.

Sakura had loved her new friend so much that he had pretty much gained a permanent place in the group.

* * *

Kyouya both loved and hated summer. He loved it because it meant that he didn't have to cater to the stupidity of classes and Sakura spent more time by his side.

He hated it because the herbivores got stupid and cocky, and because it meant _swimming_.

It wasn't that Sakura couldn't swim...she was fairly decent at it. But the sounds bouncing off the waters of the ocean had a bad habit of overwhelming her.

That and it meant the herbivores would have a chance to look at _his_ Princess in a swim suit. And that was unacceptable, because it gave the more idiotic herbivores _ideas_ above their station.

"Kyou-chan?"

Kyouya looked up from where he was napping. Sakura was leaning over him, her usual smile on her face when she was around him, wearing a light summer dress. On her shoulder was Fon, who was smirking...and wearing an outfit that hinted they were planning to hit someplace with water soon.

Kyouya scowled.

"Do you want to go to the ocean with us?" asked Sakura.

Ocean meant crowds. Crowds meant an unhappy Sakura. An unhappy Sakura meant he'd be biting people to death left and right.

It also meant his princess in a swimsuit.

"Wao. Why do you even want to go to the ocean anyway?"

"Haru and Kyoko-san invited me. They said Ryohei was working as a life guard."

Kyouya frowned. He was not a big fan of the loud nuisance known as Ryohei, partly because he was always bothering his people about joining that damn boxing club, but mostly because he was loud ALL THE TIME!

"Fine, but you had better stay close to her, you damn carnivore."

Fon chuckled.

Sakura's face brightened.

"The headphones Verde gave me are waterproof and he said they _should_ have a sonar function that lets me see underwater!"

Ah, so the dubious Lightning Fon recommended had decided to play on his Hime's ability to locate through sound and use her to test out another function of the headphones. With any luck it meant she could actually enjoy swimming, instead of staying on the beach every summer.

"The goggles Verde gave you have a similar function and he has some rebreathers you can borrow to test out if you want. You can have fun with her and get away from the crowds," said Fon.

Kyouya might actually _enjoy_ the beach for once, if this worked out.

* * *

 _At the beach..._

"Wow Sakura! What cute headphones!" said Haru.

After the minor misunderstanding with Reborn, Haru kept coming around and eventually ended up drawn into Sakura's group. Partly because of a small amount of guilt, but also because she could tell the girl was practically dying from a lack of girl talk.

Kyoko mostly came because of her brother, and quickly grew to like Sakura as a friend. Hana, her best friend, was still dubious about being around the girl because of the close proximity to so many "kids", never mind that only three of them were actually children.

Reborn, Verde, Colonello, Skull and Fon creeped her out, no questions asked.

Sakura smiled, glad that they were blocking out the majority of the sounds. There was a computer in them that differentiated between the noise that came in and allowed her focus on her friends rather than the conversation around her.

And she was starting to suspect Verde had gotten hooked on a rather large number of anime Takeshi had in his collection because the headphones were a dead ringer for the 'ears' of Chi, from the _Chobits_ series and to a lesser extent _Tsubasa_ and _Xxxholic._

Verde charged the bill for the headphones and the goggles straight to CEDEF, with Reborn's help. Not like Iemitsu couldn't afford to pay for his monumental mistake. It would raise too many questions if they charged it directly to the Vongola accounts so early, before Sakura was officially declared Decimo. It might lead to questions that they didn't need answered so early.

"And that swimsuit is just adorable!" said Kyoko.

Sakura smiled, as she was just happy she got to swim earlier with a very enthusiastic Kyouya and test out the sonar function of the headphones.

As promised, they worked perfectly underwater and she took to the water with enthusiasm. Kyouya was pretty happy with his toys as well, because he could see Sakura perfectly and knew exactly where she was at all times. They also allowed him to see into the darker depths of the water with ease.

Seeing Sakura in her mermaid swimsuit (courtesy of an amused Nana and Reborn) was icing on the cake in his opinion... she swam through the water with ease.

They had come up to replace the rebreathers, to the amusement of Fon. By that time Haru and the others had already arrived, so Kyouya let his girlfriend switch out of her 'fins' to go meet them.

"What do we have here? Some unattended cuties..." said one rather unpleasant looking teen.

"Don't worry, we'll keep you plenty of company," said another.

"Especially this one," said the first, being too close for comfort for Sakura's taste.

Sakura frowned.

"Fake carnivore, if you don't let go of my girlfriend this instant I will bite you to death," said a welcome voice.

"Kyou-chan!"

"Grk!"

"Hibari-san!" yelped the second.

Kyouya's hand on the first teen was downright painful, if the wince Sakura felt was any indication. He calmly pulled her into him, before his smile became full of teeth.

"Damn carnivore, I thought I told you to keep an eye on Sakura-hime so this didn't happen?" said Kyouya to Fon.

"You were right there, so I saw no need to intervene," said Fon dismissively.

Kyouya glared at the trio of fake carnivores, who paled in fear of him. Good. He noted they were all trained life guards, but he didn't think for a minute they were actually capable of doing their jobs.

That would not do, not when his little bird's safety and the safety of all the small animals running around was at stake.

"Leave, or I'll bite you to death," he snapped.

The trio dispersed.

They weren't going to piss off the demon of Namimori.

Haru breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for that, Hibari-san," she said.

"Tch. I just don't want fake carnivores touching what's _mine_."

Kyouya made a point to call in some of his trained almost carnivores in to take over for those pathetic fakes. Ryohei might be a loud nuisance, but he at least seemed to be taking his job seriously. It was unfair for him to shoulder the entire burden of securing the beach.

A good thing too, because not more than an hour later a little girl was almost washed away by a riptide. His men had her secured and returned to her relieved mother in less than a minute since she started yelling for help.

* * *

Kyouya took one look at Sakura in her summer yukata and smirked. He could let his men handle the collections for policing the festival and keeping the worst of the herbivores in line. He was on a proper date with _his_ Sakura-hime since they became boyfriend and girlfriend, even if it was annoying as hell having the damn carnivore chaperon them.

Seeing her smile made all the hassle of being around crowds worth it. Especially when he got to beat up a large number of fake carnivores with her by his side with her own tonfas.

Sakura snuggled by his side as the fireworks went off, and not for the first time he wished she could see them. There was so much she missed out because she had no sight, but she didn't care as long as she was with him.

He had to be nudged awake by an amused Fon. Rather than wake up the hime who had fallen asleep curled up against him like a small kitten, he gently picked her up.

He had to deliberately ignore the way the damn carnivore cooed at them both.

* * *

 _Fon POV..._

Kyouya was too adorable for words, the way he reacted around Sakura-hime. He was a veritable brat around everyone, including him...but the second she turned that smile on him, he melted like ice.

It was too amusing to watch, as Kyouya only fell for his princess even harder. And Sakura was already in love with her Cloud, to the point she didn't even react to him picking him up.

The girl was a perfect match for his cranky grandson.

Sitting on Kyouya's shoulder, Fon had a serene smile on his face watching Kyouya carry the girl home, rather than call one of his men to drive them back. Then again he was rather possessive, especially with the way the girl's social circle of acceptable friends was growing so quickly.

Looking at the specially designed headphones Verde made for the princess, he had to hold back a snicker.

Sakura looked ridiculously cute with those on and they suited her so well!

Fon looked at Verde with open amusement.

"You're having fun, aren't you?" he asked.

Verde didn't bother to look at him in the eye.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Fon snickered.

"You've been caught by the Hime's Sky, and now here you are recreating various shows purely so she can defend herself better."

Verde refused to look the smug Storm in the eye. Especially since he was in fact recreating something he had seen from a rather odd series called _Mai Otome_ that looked like it could be highly profitable if it worked out.

The earrings and ability to create custom armor for females was fascinating, though he found the 'restrictions' on it beyond ridiculous. Limiting the usefulness of such items was foolish, even if it did serve the series well.

Women were no less dangerous than men, and having a way to defend themselves and create weapons _and_ have something that looked pretty and practical would make the special earrings very popular in a short amount of time.

Plus with how rare the materials were he could charge through the roof for a single pair and make enough to fund even more of his research.

Japan was turning out to be a goldmine for inspiration.

Especially in concerns for his...other...research.

The box weapons were coming along better than he had hoped, and being around Sakura-hime (the nickname stuck, much to his annoyance) made him more relaxed. It didn't help that she shamelessly forced him to actually care about himself enough to get sleep, to the approval of his traitorous pet alligator Kaimen.

The damn reptile would grab him by the back of the coat and walk him to his room and stand guard until he actually feel asleep, to his irritation. Science shouldn't be hindered by small things like sleep and food!

Fon openly smirked at his growing annoyance, as if he knew exactly what the Lightning was thinking.

"Sakura-hime convinced your partner to mother hen you, didn't she?"

Verde grumbled under his breath.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Fon smugly.

"Why are you even here Fon?" said Verde crossly.

"Because Kyouya refuses to let me hang around his school during working hours and I-Pin is off with Nana for some shopping. And as much as I tolerate Reborn, I'd rather be around you."

Verde conceded that point. Reborn was a pain in the ass, to say the least.

 _Mekyo~!  
_

Fon blinked, before a grin appeared on his face.

"Is that the Black Mokona?" he asked amused.

"He's useful in bringing me something hot to drink and food from above," said Verde defensively.

"Does it link up to the White one?"

"Of course! Like I would pass up on a chance to properly recreate something!" said Verde offended.

" _Mokona Modoki, ready to go! I have a transmission from the White Mokona~!"_ announced the black fluff ball.

The jewel on it's head turned into a projector, and they could see everything from the White Mokona's POV on Sakura's shoulder.

" _So the Ninth offered you a promotion, Hayato-kun?"_

 _Hayato openly scoffed._

" _I had Dino tell that old man he can go shove his 'offer' up his ass after what he did to you. No way am I trusting that old bastard,"_ _said Hayato in disgust. He paused. "I think Dino was relieved I didn't take it, but I have no idea why."_

" _That's because it was a test from the Ninth to see your loyalty to Sakura-hime. You_ were _a bit of a hotheaded fool," said Reborn._

" _He's still a hot headed puppy, but at least he knows his place," said Kyouya without any sympathy whatsoever._

" _Besides I'd be bored within a week running some casinos," said Hayato._

The image bobbed a little, and you could tell Sakura patted his head.

Fon looked rather proud of the Storm as well. His training of the boy's Flames was going rather well, and this was an excellent show of how loyal he was to the princess. To refuse such a tempting offer for someone who was so eager to prove himself without even a hint of hesitation was a very good sign.

It meant he knew _exactly_ where his loyalty was.


	13. Chapter 13

Sakura was openly worried.

Fuuta-kun had gone missing a few days ago, and no one had seen him at all. More than that, there had been a series of attacks on the students of her school which had Kyouya rather unhappy and wanting to bite whoever was responsible to death.

And there was the unusual matter of the teeth being removed.

Sakura was not happy, Kyouya was pissed and Fuuta was still missing after a week.

All in all, not a very good week for anyone.

An unhappy Sakura meant an unhappy Kyouya, which meant a large number of unfortunate people getting bitten to death while Sakura was beside herself with worry over the missing boy.

Needless to say everyone who knew Sakura well pulled out all the stops trying to find the missing child, if only so she would call off the angry Kyouya from his rampage.

Kyouya picked up the phone the second he heard the song (sung by a very amused Sakura) on his phone. No one knew why he liked the school song so much that he made it his ringtone, but then very few people were brave enough to befriend him in the first place.

"What is it?"

" _There's been suspicious activity in the Kokuyo Ruins outside town. There are also signs of a small child in the area, but nothing definitive, Hibari-sama,"_ reported one of the yakuza lackeys.

"It's more that we had before, and that's one area we haven't checked already. Good work," said Kyouya.

" _There's one more thing... there's been a rather odd number of people in the area, considering the condition it's in,"_ said the lackey.

Kyouya frowned.

"Odd how?"

" _Well they are wearing the school uniforms of the town over,"_ he said slowly.

Kyouya growled.

"So _that's_ what this is. Some idiots have decided to try and take _my_ territory from me," growled Kyouya in anger.

" _I've already told the Boss and he's agreed to stay out of it. He'll have medical personnel on standby, but that's it."_

Yakuza knew damn well what was at stake when two rival gangs were vying for the same area. It was going to be a bloodbath, so the fact they were openly bowing out of the conflict was only natural.

Obviously Fuuta had been taken hostage in some way to be used as leverage against Sakura-hime. Which meant he was alive, and had better be unharmed or Kyouya was going to be murderous.

Sakura-hime would be devastated if anything happened to the kid.

Kyouya hung up the phone and went to deliver the news to his group. It was time to start planning an offensive. Anyone who thought to use one of Sakura-hime's people against them was a dead man, though considering she hadn't been sleeping properly he was loath to drag her into this fight.

Not until she was assured Fuuta was safe again.

Kusakabe took the orders to mobilize with ease. He wasn't the only one who was pissed off some upstarts from another town were trying to move in on their territory, never mind the amount of needless pain they caused.

* * *

 _Someone was crying. She tried to look around, except the cover on the cage kept her from seeing who it was. Seeing the small opening, she reached out, to try and pull the cover off._

 _It refused to budge, but she did touch ground._

 _Instinct told her to go to the water. But she was so far away, and there wasn't really any room for her to reach out._

 _Well, she was nothing if not stubborn._

 _Bit by bit, she started to drag the cage to the water. It was hard, so very hard. But she persisted, even when her hands became raw and painful from dragging the heavy cage._

 _Finally, she heard the water and her strength increased. But she was tired...so very tired and unable to make the final push to where she could touch it..._

* * *

Sakura jolted awake. What an odd dream...she had been having it every night since Fuuta went missing, but she felt it was important.

"Kyou-chan went to find the culprits and Fuuta?" repeated Sakura.

Hayato didn't bother to nod.

"Yeah, he said this was all a major territorial dispute between two schools and that since you were having so much trouble sleeping lately you should rest just in case. You _are_ the second strongest fighter in Namimori behind Hibari-san after all."

Gokudera was fine with being the third strongest, with Takeshi being the fourth and Ryohei being the fifth. After the training Fon had given him, and having Shamal finish his training his ranking had gone up, to his delight. Takeshi was a contender though, if he ever decided to train for real with his sword, rather than swing a bat.

Sakura blinks sleepily... the dream was really exhausting for some reason.

"Go back to sleep, Principessa," said Reborn firmly.

She shook her head.

"I don't want to. I want to help Kyou-chan, if only to make sure Fuuta is secured from whoever took him."

Reborn looked at her seriously, as did Fon. Verde was in his lab making something special for the princess... something about an ongoing project and how he wanted her to have a _special_ one. Having a willing Sky and other Elements outside of Lightning was making it go much faster.

"Fine, but gear up for a real fight," said Reborn flatly.

"In that case... I suppose I could give her something I've been holding back for a while now. It's not like she hasn't earned it."

Hearing the rustle of fabric, it took her a few moments to register what it was.

"Is this like the outfit you're always wearing?"

"I had it made for you. It's a sign that you've completed your training with me, at least in the way of the staff. I have very little to teach you with staff fighting anymore," said Fon. He was proud, and justifiably so.

Sakura beamed at him, and for good reason. She had trained her ass off for _years_ after he first started teaching her, to be more than just a handicapped child who couldn't see that had a cane.

As she's off to switch into her new outfit, which also has a holster that attaches to her hip for easier access to her collapsible staff and two more to hide the tonfas that Kyouya showed her how to use, Reborn looked to the others.

"I got an order from the Ninth. He wants her to deal with the escaped convicts on her own," said Reborn.

"You neglected to mention the fact that there were convicts from our world to her, why?" asked Fon.

"I'll bring it up if it really is them," shrugged Reborn. He needed his allotment of chaos and havoc, and keeping his mouth shut about this was a good way to get it.

Fon frowned at him, but said nothing.

"I'm ready!" said Sakura cheerfully.

The outfit she wore was more of a battle dress than anything, with a pair of shorts underneath. It was a pale orange, with Sakura blossoms embroidered on the bottom up to the middle of the dress. The sleeves were long, but they had bells sewn along the trim, especially two medium sized ones that let out a louder sound than the small ones. Her shoes were light, perfect for quick footwork but sturdy enough to walk on rough terrain.

She looked positively adorable, in Reborn's opinion...and more importantly she looked like she was ready for a serious fight.

"Hime!"

Hayato looked like he was about to start bowing or something. Reborn kicked him in the head.

"Don't even think about it idiot. Your Principessa needs you to act as her Knight right now. After all, her prince has gone off to war without her."

Hayato shook his head, as if to clear it. He needed his head in the game now.

Especially since his hime was wearing her special headphones, which meant she wouldn't be nearly as bothered by his explosives. And that meant he could use some of his newly acquired skills to protect her.

Fon promptly took his spot on her shoulder, with Mokona taking the opposite side.

Reborn took to Hayato's shoulder...the better to deliver some nasty head slaps.

Skull and Colonello would stay behind to protect the civilians, like Nana and the three girls that had befriended Sakura. Though odds were Nana would simply head off to the Hibari mansion to chat with Kyouya's mother just in case. She was worried about the recent attacks too.

"So where are we going?"

"Kokuyo Land, a theme park that got destroyed by landslide. According to your informants, there's been a lot of unusual activity there lately," said Reborn.

"Uh... how are we getting there?" asked Sakura.

"Shamal is driving us," said Reborn.

He wasn't ashamed to use Sakura's puppy eyes on the idiot to get them there.

* * *

Hibari was pissed off and it had nothing to do with the amount of herbivores he just had to fight through.

No, this had everything to do with the damn interloper trying to use images of _his_ princess against him.

Too bad the fool didn't know of Sakura's blindness. No matter how many images he produced of his princess, none of them fooled him for a minute. Especially the ones with the skimpy clothes, considering her mother personally filled her closet.

Sakura-hime would never wear anything that low cut, much less exposed. The closest she came was the battle outfit "Yuna" wore in the _Final Fantasy X-2_ game.

"Impressive."

"Not really, your illusions of the little bird suck," said Hibari bluntly.

The teen blinked, then he tried harder.

"If you're trying to emulate Sakura-hime, you should have done actual background information on her first," deadpanned Hibari, before a smirk came across his face. "For attempting to take over _my_ territory and disrupting the peace of Namimori, I will bite you to death."

"You can try," sneered the other teen, his eyes flashing.

* * *

Sakura didn't need to see to know what was in front of her.

"Kyou-chan was already here. I can hear the sounds of pain from where I'm standing," said Sakura in a deadpan.

Fon smirked.

"My dear grandson is rather...enthusiastic...about protecting his princess," he said in open amusement.

"Enthusiastic. Right, let's go with that," said Shamal.

There were broken and bleeding bodies everywhere, and it looked like a damn hurricane had hit them. It was pretty clear someone who knew what they were doing had been through here, taking out the weaker idiots.

Sakura's attention immediately went to the left.

"Incoming!"

Takeshi took out three fake dogs which spattered his sword with their blood. He didn't need Sakura's superior senses to guess what was going on. Someone was attacking them, and would likely use the blood as a way to track him.

However he had anticipated this...well, actually he had planned for something else just in case since he couldn't find what he was actually looking for.

So when he was thrown into an old greenhouse, he was ready for the jerk who attacked them.

Hearing the coughs and sputters from the guy's nose, Takeshi smirked.

"...Did the baseball idiot just throw a bottle of alcohol at that guy?" asked Hayato mildly impressed.

"Why did he even have that on him?" wondered Sakura.

"Couldn't find the rubbing alcohol, so I improvised!" he shot up to the roof.

"...Smart kid. Sake works in a pinch," admitted Shamal.

With the stench of sake in his nose, it was harder for the other teen to track Takeshi. He could use his eyes, but his nose was screaming from abuse.

"You dirty bastard!"

Takeshi grinned.

It didn't take much for Takeshi to beat the feral teen, and have him tied up.

He was pretty pissed about it, considering they had used steel wire to tie him down with.

Sakura bent down.

"Where is Kyou-chan and Fuuta?" she asked seriously.

The teen sneered at her.

"Don't know any 'Kyou-chan', but the Ranking brat is with our leader. Should have heard him cry when he realized what we wanted!"

Sakura's face went blank. Then she took out something that had everyone perform a collective blink.

"Why do you even have that?"

"Verde wanted to know if my hearing also applied to frequencies above the normal range," said Sakura. "I haven't had a chance to test it, but let's see how good _his_ hearing is."

It was a common dog whistle. She put it to her lips and blew as hard as she could.

The feral teen went stiff immediately.

"STOP IT!" he yelled in pain.

"Are you going to be a brat again?" asked Sakura.

"You damn bitch!"

She blew harder. He yelped loudly.

Reborn smirked in approval.

"What shall we do with this one?" asked Reborn.

"Hostage trade?" suggested Sakura. "If he's important enough to be sent out on his own, then maybe they'd be willing to negotiate for his return. Besides, if we leave him behind then one of his allies could release him and then we'd have to fight him all over again."

The teen glared at her.

"Well in that case, I'll feed him," said Bianchi.

"If you do that you might very well kill him, and he won't be worth much as a potential hostage later," said Sakura flatly.

Hayato nodded in emphatic agreement.


	14. Chapter 14

Ken was beyond pissed. Not only had that damn asshole beat him with such a cheap trick, but the damn bitch was having him dragged behind to be used as a hostage...though he had to admit, at least she had the sense to keep him close and not leave a potential enemy at her back.

Plus, now he knew that dog whistles were evil. He had never been that close to one before, and even he hadn't known his hearing was that damn sensitive.

And what the hell was with those stupid headphones?

So he fumed in silence while being dragged by the older bitch with the weird goggles. She reeked of poison, and the way they spoke said she was a Poison Food specialist.

He only vaguely caught the familiar scent of M.M., and barely hid a smirk. She'd settle this pretty quick and give him a chance to get out of these stupid bindings.

Except it didn't work like he expected. The lead bitch called out a warning, before opening one of the weird 'ears' and pushing something. Likely a button.

The others didn't hear it, but he did. The sound of bells chiming at a certain frequency.

It wasn't painful, not like the whistle, but it was weird. And the way she twitched had him narrow his eyes.

She actually _dodged_ the red head's attack with that stupid flute. Almost like she could sense where it was, but who could sense sound?

Ken narrowed his eyes at the lead bitch. The one they all called "Sakura-hime".

He had been on the outskirts when the Cloud bastard showed up, and he had broken out of Mukuro's illusion way too easily, considering his boss took the image directly from the guy's head.

Almost like he knew something they didn't.

How did she dodge those attacks with her eyes... oh. OH.

So that was it! The Vongola heiress was blind and had super-hearing! That was why the Cloud wasn't fooled! And what the headphones were for! They were to filter the noise around her so it didn't overwhelm her hearing!

Mukuro-sama had to know this before he tried the same trick and was taken out!

Ken took the chance and managed to slip out of his bindings a little... he narrowly avoided an attack from the blind bitch, and now he was sure she was blind because the others were distracted by M. M. and her stupid flute!

He didn't see the attack that took him out, but he remembered the stink of poisons. Someone had to tell Mukuro about that girl and her weakness!

* * *

Bianchi was less than pleased with the feral brat who managed to slip out of the ropes tying him. Good thing she had noticed movement from the brat while Sakura took out the girl with the flute. Out of all of them, she was uniquely suited to dealing with the girl since her headphones canceled out the effects of the sonic waves.

Good thing the princess gave her permission to use the non-lethals. The feral teen had probably picked up on her condition during the fight.

"Good work," said Reborn approvingly to both the girls.

Bianchi blushed with pride and Sakura beamed at him, the usual flowers and sparkles around her.

"What should we do with this one?" asked Takeshi, poking at the girl with his sword in bamboo form.

"Steal her flute and move on. I doubt she'll be able to attack us without it and I don't see any active Flames on her," said Sakura without hesitation.

"...You can see Active Flames?" said Shamal.

Fon coughed with amusement.

"One of the tricks Sakura-hime learned to navigate and find people she knows easier is a Flame sensory technique I taught her. She can't see with her eyes, but she can 'see' Flames, especially Actives. It makes it easier for her to tell what people 'look' like."

"Is that why she keeps looking at the general height we would be if we weren't cursed when she first sees us?" asked Reborn.

"Yes, all I did was refine what she did by instinct," said Fon.

"So that's how she made those..." muttered Reborn. He had wondered how she even _knew_ what they looked like in their true form when she couldn't see them, much less been exposed to them before the curse.

Shamal looked at the downed girl and grinned. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, feeling the perversion rolling off him.

"Bianchi, hand the hostage over to Shamal. He needs something to keep his hands occupied," said Sakura in a flat voice. Bianchi gleefully dumped the unconscious teen onto the doctor, who took the boy with a squawk of protest.

Shamal didn't argue when he saw the Look Sakura was giving him. He'd rather take his chances with a pissed off teen than her glares.

"By the way, who's protecting the others back in town?" asked Shamal, changing the subject.

"Skull and Colonello are protecting the civilian girls I befriended, and Mama said she'd visit Kyou-chan's house until we got back. Smart move, right Reborn?" said Sakura.

Reborn tipped his hat.

"Perfectly reasonable, considering what's happening. Using your Elements to insure that the civilians of the group are safe and out of the way is definitely something a true Donna would think of," said Reborn with approval.

And honestly, with the way Sakura acted he didn't see her blindness being an issue. Once the seal was remove she'd be an almost perfect Donna of the Vongola family, almost as good as Daniela herself.

Sakura beamed at him.

* * *

Mukuro was not happy. While he had taken out the Cloud fool after a bit of difficulty, Ken had not returned from scouting.

And then he found out why, which made his blood boil.

The little twit had _his_ minion hostage! Chikusa was silently radiating fury by his side... the three of them had gone through hell to get out of that facility, and while he didn't behave like it, he took their lives seriously.

After all, it was hard to find decent lackeys these days. And Ken was very loyal and very strong.

Good thing Birds was next, as well as the twins.

He couldn't wait to see the little Vongola girl panic, especially since it looked like she took this whole thing like a game or a fun outing. Those headphones looked very ridiculous and positively childish.

Clearly not someone he had to take seriously. Odds were the Cloud had been keeping his Sky out of danger for so long she had never been in a real battle.

Though it was baffling they hadn't found the second strongest in Namimori High, considering how easy it was to lure out the third. He would have thought she would have come with the Cloud.

Mukuro watched with dark amusement and interest as Birds showed the two civilian girls on the screen. However he noticed something very quickly that had him suspect this wouldn't be very entertaining at all.

The two were in the presence of two Arcobaleno. Specifically the Rain and the Cloud.

What the hell was they doing here, and with those two? How on earth did the Vongola heir convince them to guard civilians?!

And who was whistling?

* * *

Sakura couldn't see the screen, but she trusted Skull and Colonello to keep the girls safe for her. Instead she decided to try and tempt the little birds she heard to her.

Kyouya loved the fact she could call down any number of small birds to them while they were in the park. Animals seemed to adore Sakura for some reason and were much tamer than normal.

She whistled in a cheerful tune, and to the surprise of the man threatening her friends, the little bird on his shoulder tilted it's head before chirping back.

Sakura beamed, before whistling a little louder, and holding out her hand.

The man who called himself "Birds" became enraged.

"Give me back my bird!" he shrieked in fury.

Sakura tilted her head, and the little bird copied her action.

"I only said hello to this little one. If he chose to fly over to greet me, then that's his business. If you want to 'control' a bird, then get a cage and one that was raised in captivity," said Sakura as if talking to a spoiled child.

Birds snarled.

"You bitch! Prepare to watch your little friends die!"

Sakura said nothing... merely listened to the sound of the assassins after her friends run into the wall that was the Arcobaleno.

Haru and Kyoko yelped upon realizing how close they had been to the twins.

" _Heh. As if I'd let Sakura-hime down by letting her friends fall victim to you losers,"_ said Skull boisterously.

Sakura's smile increased in strength. She liked having Skull around... he was funny and really nice. And perpetually in shock over the fact that Reborn wasn't tormenting her in the form of training.

Then again most of his usual methods were almost impossible to do because she couldn't see, and anything too loud sent her into a panic attack that took her at least five minutes to get out of.

And he hadn't dared to use his Deathperation Bullets, because he highly suspected it would do far more damage than good.

The little bird promptly took to Sakura's shoulder.

"Oi, asshole! Who do you think you are, threatening Hime's friends like that?" shouted Gokudera, drawing out his bombs.

Sakura turned a deaf ear to the pained sound from the man who called himself Birds. He deserved everything he got for being such a jerk.

The little bird chirped on her hand, unsettled by the explosions.

"Sa-ku-ra," she said cheerfully.

The bird tilted his head, before repeating it.

"Sakura! Sakura!" it chirped. She giggled in delight.

Then it took off, to alert Birds' allies about the fact it's original master was taken out.

Suddenly Sakura's head turned to the woods.

"FUUTA!"

She bolted out towards where she felt Fuuta's Flames. The boy was very fast, and she ended up bumping into someone unfamiliar. But his Flames were very bright and a color she had only seen dancing at the edge of Kyou-chan's fire and in Mammon.

If she remembered Fon's lessons right, then that meant the person before her was a Mist, which meant illusions.

Mammon had been most put out...and very impressed... upon learning that traditional illusions were worthless around Sakura.

Most illusionists only focused on sight and minimal input from the other five senses when ensnaring targets. However when the Mist Arcobaleno went to test out Sakura's ability to detect them, they found themselves up against an unusual barrier.

Sakura was more in tune with her other senses, mainly because she couldn't use her sight. And Mammon had a very hard time trying to compensate when that was removed from the equation. It was hard to find the right balance to make the illusion properly believable, and even Belphegor had been caught up in a few of them.

Which meant that Sakura was theoretically _immune_ to Mist illusions.

"Are you alright?" asked the person she crashed into with false concern.

She paused, before looking up at him. Well, figuratively speaking.

"It's dangerous to wander around here with your head in the clouds. You never know when the ground will cave in, especially if you can't hear it," said the boy.

Sakura decided to turn up the charm and said with false sincerity "I'll keep that in mind! But I'd be more worried about the delinquents around her! One boy was just taken out with a dog whistle of all things!"

The boy paused, but she could feel the amusement in his voice.

"Really now? How interesting! You better go back to your friends, little girl..."

Sakura noticed the sounds of a really intense fight. She winced.

"I think you're right," she said worriedly. She turned to face the boy with a smile on her face. "Nice to meet you, Mukuro-san~!"

She easily dodged the hand that lashed out to grab her.

Mukuro stared after her in irritation and confusion.

"Keep an eye on her. She's more perceptive than she looks," said Mukuro.

"Agreed," said Chikusa.

She had known immediately he was the _real_ Mukuro and hadn't been afraid in the least. She was definitely a strange one.

"Still... a dog whistle, really?" said Mukuro, lips twitching into a smirk. Chikusa was silent, but you could still feel amusement from him.

Ken was never going to live that down if they had anything to say about it.

* * *

She followed the sound of crashing and yelling. Her headphones automatically dampened the sound so she wouldn't be overwhelmed. She kept her eyes closed and felt for the Flames around her...and frowned.

The person they were calling Mukuro felt wrong. His fire was being drowned by the Misty Indigo of the boy she had just run into... and didn't Mammon mention once that if a Mist were particularly strong and creative, they could turn people into puppets?

It was one of the reasons why people didn't trust anyone with Mist Flames as easily as they did the others. They were tricky.

Sakura frowned, and barely registered the shout of warning from Hayato. She went into a roll, narrowly dodging the spiked ball coming at her.

The wind felt wrong around the ball.

She listened carefully, and figured out why.

There was something on the ball that made the winds act differently than they should.

She went to draw her staff...only to frown when she found it missing.

"Ah, did I forget to mention Leon ate your favorite weapon earlier?" said Reborn as if remembering something.

Fon glared at him.

"You could have said something sooner. I have spares."

"She still has her tonfa," said Reborn dismissively.

Fon's glare increased.

"Her control over certain techniques can only be used with her staff," said Fon in annoyance.

"She needs the experience then!" said Reborn cheerfully.

"You are a jerk," said Sakura in annoyance. She drew her tonfa and took a stance that was familiar to anyone who had run into Hibari at any point.

"As Dino would say, it's my specialty!" cackled Reborn. Finally, some proper chaos and sadism!


	15. Chapter 15

Defeating "Mukuro" was tragically easy. Especially since the man A) wasn't Mukuro at all, and B) wasn't actually trying to kill them. Even so, Takeshi was out, Hayato looked exhausted, and Sakura was more than a bit miffed that Leon ate her staff.

Tonfas were her secondary weapon for a reason.

Lancia at least looked at peace, knowing someone at least remembered his real name and actually gave a damn.

"Let's go end this," said Sakura crossly. "And keep an eye for Kyou-chan, he still hasn't come back."

Fon hid a grin behind his sleeve. Kyouya was in for so much trouble when Sakura-hime got to him. She was very annoyed with her boyfriend. He jumped onto her shoulder and smirked.

"What?"

"I might have a way to give Kyouya incentive not to go running off into a major fight without you twice."

"I'm listening," said Sakura smiling in a way that would have sent warning alarms in Kyouya's mind if he had seen it.

Reborn almost felt pity for him. Almost.

* * *

Kyouya shuddered. He had a horrible feeling his grandfather was conspiring with his girlfriend against him again. The last time they did that, Fon somehow convinced Sakura to take pole dancing (not the erotic kind, thank gods) classes and then tricked him into watching her try out the new moves she learned.

That was shortly after both of them hit puberty and he started noticing her as a _girl_ , other than as his little bird to protect.

Somehow he had the feeling the prank that Fon had in mind this time was going to be much worse... and far harder to keep his reaction from showing.

Damn carnivore.

Hearing the sounds below, Kyouya popped in a few painkillers that he got from the hospital before he arrived. Because of how much money he made for them (in the form of giving them victims they could easily patch up and throw out with very little chance of death in between) they were more than happy to give him a prescription so long as he didn't develop a habit.

Once the pills kicked in despite taking them dry, Kyouya smirked. He was so going to beat the shit out of that damn pineapple, and if he didn't, well he was certain Sakura-hime would. She didn't like it when kids got hurt.

So he waited... and his patience was rewarded. At least he got to teach the bird his ringtone.

Sakura-hime wasn't the only one with a knack for animals, and he liked birds.

It looked like the Puppy Knight was useful for something after all, destroying that wall for him.

Kyouya smirked, and was almost tempted to lick the blood off his tonfas. Except hime frowned at that sort of thing and he didn't want to risk catching stupid from the herbivores he took out earlier.

Gokudera had a tired chuckle on his lips.

"I should warn you, Fon was talking to hime earlier and they had this really creepy smile on their face. Pretty sure you were mentioned a few times."

Kyouya's face went flat.

Oh _hell_ no, they were conspiring against him! And knowing that damn carnivore he was going to give Hime ideas that left him hard for days as punishment!

* * *

Sakura looked at Mukuro, and for some reason she kept hearing the sound of someone crying. It wasn't Fuuta...he had passed out fairly quickly once she knocked the knife out of his hands and hugged him, telling she didn't blame him for anything Mukuro forced him to do. The poor kid had passed out, crying into her outfit not that she cared.

She shot an annoyed look to Reborn, because he hadn't warned her Leon had eaten her staff.

Having to rely on tonfas severely limited what she could do, even in an enclosed area.

But as she got closer to Mukuro, she realized something.

He was the one who was crying, even if he didn't realize it himself.

The only way to make him realize he was in pain... would be to wear his defenses down so she could reach him. He seemed very vexed when he realized his illusions didn't work, and that she evaded his conjured serpents with far too much ease.

It was with only mild surprise and some consternation when the feral teen they captured managed to break free long enough to reach his "boss".

"Mukuro-sama, the girl is blind!" he said, panting as he had raced to reach Mukuro to warn him.

Mukuro narrowed his eyes at the girl. The heiress had far too much ease avoiding even his best illusions, and the way the Cloud boy had seen past his attempts to fool him with her image so quickly and even mocked him at how bad his mimicry of her was...

"Well that explains a lot," he muttered.

Of course she was ignoring his illusions... they targeted the nerves for sight and if she couldn't see anyway, then they'd have only minimal effect. And the Cloud obviously knew that fact, which was why he wasn't fooled at all by the illusions of her.

Which presented a bit of a predicament, because she was superior to him in close range fighting and the rest of his combat style relied on the same illusions she was ignoring. She also knew pressure points, because the first thing she did after he stabbed her comrades was to put them both into a temporary paralysis that was almost impossible for him to override, to his annoyance.

They were essentially at a standstill. At least until the girl said something that threw him off.

"Why do I hear you crying?" she asked.

Mukuro stared at her.

"What?"

"I can hear your true voice. It's been crying for some time, but it seems you haven't noticed it."

The chameleon exploded, and he was so irritated by her question that he cut it into two.

Only for a long staff to fall down into the girl's hands, with carved divots that looked like they opened up...and a winged teddy bear looking creature to fall onto her head.

"Yo~!

Reborn stared at it for a moment.

"First Leon creates a turtle that grows with water, and now a winged teddy bear."

"Actually I think he just summoned the bear," said Fon absentmindedly.

"You might have a point," said Reborn.

"I am the great Keroberos!" said the 'bear', flying up to her face.

"I think I'll call you Kero-chan," said Sakura giggling. "Now what to do about you and your friends. I suppose I'll have to discipline you all for the trouble you caused."

Mukuro tensed, as did Ken and Chikusa.

None of them expected the firm whacks to the head that left them holding some rather large bumps where she hit them. Or that she would do it so fast.

Kyouya snorted.

"It seems hime has decided to be lenient with you, for whatever reason," he said cryptically with some annoyance.

Mukuro really didn't know how to react when Sakura hugged him to her chest, as if he was something precious. It felt like something inside him was curling around her, like a kitten. And that he was receiving something precious in return.

He stared at his own hands in shock when, as the chains appeared out of nowhere to bind him and his lackeys, he found himself growling at the Vindice, barely aware that the girl had defended the two who had sworn themselves to him in that hell hole.

"May I help you, gentlemen?" she asked coolly, and there was a hint of steel in her voice that spoke of contained violence. Violence that was being directed on _their_ behalf and no one else.

He watched the Cloud with interest. He was very much awake and there was a distinct hint of arousal around him, as if he knew what was coming and intended to enjoy it immensely. A similar aura (though without the lust in the Cloud) came from the Storm Arcobaleno. There was a hint of pride and dark amusement of what was about to happen.

He barely listened to what Sakura was telling the Vindice, only that she made it very, very clear that she would not allow the shadows of the Mafioso to take them as they intended.

Mukuro felt a surge of protective fire, though it was well hidden and barely noticeable, coming from the Vongola Heiress. A restrained flame was was just begging for the Vindice to give her reason to unleash it upon them, consequences be damned.

It made his own flames purr, in response.

Seeing the shadowy enforcers of the underworld back off was something he never thought he'd witness.

But the best part of all was the disbelieving expression on the Sun Arcobaleno's face.

* * *

Reborn was drinking, for obvious reasons. They had gone in to rescue Fuuta and deal with an interloper on Vongola territory... only for Sakura-hime to somehow convert the four strongest fighters on the enemy side (including the main instigator) into her allies _and_ he witnessed the Vindice of all people backing off from a confrontation against a fifteen-year-old blind teenager who generally behaved like a princess who never left their gilded cage!

But even he would admit to the thrill he got hearing that hint of pure forged steel in her voice, and the feel of the bare flickers of Flames behind her soul.

At least he got to enjoy a little show of Sakura-hime giving her Cloud his reward/punishment.

"Did you really tell her to tie him down and then give him a lap dance of all things?"

Fon smirked behind his sleeve.

"Its her way of thanking him for clearing out the worst of the idiots, but at the same time it's his punishment because he can't touch her at all while she's doing it to him. He still hasn't forgiven me for 'accidentally' introducing her to pole dancing and the traditional belly dancing classes," snickered Fon.

Especially when Nana gave Sakura the outfits to go with the belly dancing classes as a way to tease Kyouya into admitting he was in love with her. The two of them had great entertainment watching the two dance around each other when puberty hit.

Reborn smirked.

"And it's double punishment because he's a Cloud."

"That and the fact he's sworn not to do anything past second base with her until she regains her sight," said Fon.

The two Arcobaleno shared an evil laugh at that.

 _In the office..._

Kyouya didn't know whether he was in heaven or hell, just that he could safely blame the damn carnivore for giving his girlfriend this idea. And for the dance lessons that she was putting to such good use.

He was so having a freezing shower tonight.

Worst, he could only sit there and take it because she had him handcuffed to his chair. It kept putting all sorts of wicked ideas in his head for much, much later when she could see again.

He groaned, leaving him open to a thorough kiss from his princess.

Thank the gods she had made sure to lock the door and that today wasn't a school day. He didn't want to explain the hard on to his lackeys.

Fuuta was extra clingy for the next few weeks, and Sakura didn't blame him one bit. If he wasn't with her, he was generally hiding behind Kyouya. Considering he had been kidnapped (and that the one responsible was currently on "probation" from Sakura-hime, and thus was still visible in town) they allowed it... so long as he did the homework set down by Reborn. He was still a licensed tutor and there was no reason for Fuuta not to have a proper education... even if he couldn't attend normal school because of his gifts and the fact that until Sakura was confirmed as the next Decimo to the Alliance, he was still vulnerable to being kidnapped by idiot mafioso.

Of course that was nothing to the nightmare that was unleashed when Basil of CEDEF showed up bearing the half-Vongola rings, with Squalo hot on his heels.

Sakura didn't know who he was, but she did feel an odd kinship with the mystery Rain.

Of course Reborn had to face palm when she cheerfully waved at Squalo.

* * *

"Voi! Why the hell is this brat trying to give you the rings?" demanded Squalo, pointing his non-sword hand at her.

"I have no idea. I've never met him before, nor was I told this Rain would be showing up," said Sakura. "How's your boss doing? I heard from the Prince that he's finally back."

Squalo was shockingly not trying to kill her and everyone around her, and instead entered into a relatively civilized conversation. Reborn's brain felt like it was about to crash from disbelief. Fon snickered.

"He's managing."

"Lady Sakura, you must flee!" said Basil insistently.

Sakura leveled a surprisingly annoyed look at Basil.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to have a friendly conversation with someone I haven't seen in at least three years. Did Mammon like the strawberry-flavored chocolate I sent them?"

"Voi. It got them to quit bitching about the damn budget for a week," deadpanned Squalo. "Mind if I take the rings?"

"No maiming the messenger. I have the feeling it's going to blow up anyway."

Sakura handed him the rings, to the shock of Basil and Reborn, and Squalo left with a loud "VOI!".

"Hime... what the hell is that about?"

"What? Belphegor and Mammon are regular visitors, and they occasionally bring their colleagues with them. Besides, odds are that this Rain is a mere decoy, because he's not very subtle at all."

And then Dino shows up while Basil is being treated with the real rings, and Sakura is beyond pissed finding out that her _father_ had more or less shoved this duty on a Don.

She took the Sky ring from Reborn, then brought Verde in to hold onto the Lightning until Lambo was old enough...or responsible enough...to hand the duties of being the Lightning Guardian. Like hell was she going to put such a thing on the shoulders of a child, and Verde was one of her bonded.

Seeing her seethe with fury, Reborn almost felt the need to back away.

The princess was _pissed_.

Basil however, set partially set off a powder keg he hadn't known was primed to explode in the most horrible of ways.

"Why is Lady Sakura so angry with her father?"

"Iemitsu is no father of mine, and I would gladly never go near him again after what he did to me. The closest one I've ever had to fill such an important role in my life is Fon," said Sakura with such conviction that it made Fon's eyes blink in shock.

Sadly, he would openly admit to taking on the father role that she had been missing in her life, even if his visits were sporadic. It was still more than Iemitsu had bothered to do, on top of rendering his own daughter blind from incompetence.

"Oh? And what would I rate as?" asked Reborn, mostly joking.

"Grumpy uncle," said Sakura without hesitation. "And Verde is the estranged cousin, as is Mammon."

Reborn blinked, but then he had realized a while ago that when Sakura latched onto people, she never let them go and treated them as family.


	16. Chapter 16

Sakura didn't get within 'visual' distance of her house before her instincts screamed at her that something terrible was there. Something she couldn't possibly deal with, not when she was this close to being healed at long last.

Gokudera and Yamamoto paused when they saw her freeze, much like a deer in the path of a predator, and begin to shake.

Fon, who after the minor revelation that he had treated Sakura more like a daughter than a student, went to scout what was ahead... he came back with her overnight bag, her new familiar, and told the two "knights" to take her straight to Kyouya. There was a hint of something barely restrained, a sort of slow anger that would destroy anything in it's path in his voice.

It wasn't until the Varia made an appearance less than a week later that they found out what it was that had Sakura hiding with her boyfriend, and behind a veritable wall of those who had come to call her their Princess.

Iemitsu was in town. And he was in the house. Nana had already sent the children on ahead to the Kyouya's home, and she wasn't afraid to bring Mukuro or his "friends" over to throw Iemitsu out while mentally traumatizing him for life.

* * *

The first thing Belphegor did upon entering town was give Sakura-hime a call. It was only polite, after all.

Except he frowned when the Moron of CEDEF answered the phone.

Iemitsu's name was Taboo around the Hime, for damn good reason. Odds were Nana had packed up and left for the Cloud's mansion, where the man would never locate them considering she made her opinions of her _ex_ -husband very, very clear to everyone who might talk.

Add in the overprotective nature of the Cloud's gang, the yakuza (which had amused him and Mammon when they found out about what Kyouya had done, only for Sakura-hime to convert them to her minions anyway) and there was no way in hell the man was getting close to her.

Hence why he hung up and promptly called Kyouya instead.

"Shishishi... are you aware the parasite is in town?"

" _What do you think? She damn near had a panic attack being within range of her house once she detected he was in the area. Nana and the kids were sent straight here once he showed up,"_ said Kyouya irate.

So the idiot _still_ hadn't figured out that his wife divorced him. Figures.

"Shishishi... I take it the Princess is the one with the half-Sky Ring?"

" _Are you going to direct your 'Boss'_ _after her if I tell you?"_

Belphegor frowned. That was as much a confirmation he needed that she was the one they were going to fight.

" _I take it he isn't aware of her condition?"_ said Kyouya.

"No. Though it's almost certain to come up now that we know who has the half ring."

" _Then tell him this. Sakura-hime has absolutely no love for Timoteo Vongola or Iemitsu. In fact she has a rather...vindictive...idea for how to deal with the old man once she's set to take on the title of Decimo. One that had even Reborn impressed."_

"Oh?"

You could feel Kyouya's smirk on the other end.

" _I dare say she should tell your Boss in person, once her magic effects him into backing off. She's not exactly going to be...nice... to the old man for what he did."_

Belphegor could only feel anticipation. Sakura-hime was a kind, gentle girl who could accept even someone as twisted and broken as him into her Sky without hesitation or restraint.

However, when she came across someone she simply could not accept into her Sky...

Shivers of anticipation and blood-soaked glee went down his spine.

Sakura-hime was well forged steel hidden behind the gentle visage of a princess stuck inside a gilded cage. A warrior who could play both the genteel lady and the unrelenting devastation of a hurricane in the same package. The first time he saw her fight without restrictions, his blood burned with joy and he knew that even he would bow to her if asked.

Mammon took one look at Belphegor and knew something was up.

"It's confirmed, then?"

"The Princess is our opponent."

"Mu. Just what we didn't need. I am so not telling the boss," said Mammon.

"Telling me _what_ , trash?" demanded Xanxus. He had been edgy, almost vicious since returning to them.

Mammon looked past him to Lussuria.

"Sakura-chan is the one with the half-ring. You want to explain to him about her condition?" said Mammon.

Lussuria froze.

"Oh dear."

"Also, it seems Iemitsu still hasn't gotten the memo his wife divorced him almost six years ago, and he's at the house," said Mammon.

Luss wasn't the only one who winced. Squalo did too.

"Explain, now," demanded Xanxus, already getting pissed.

"It's like this Boss... the girl you're planning to take the ring from? She's blind."

Xanxus froze.

"What."

Luss winced.

"Iemitsu, in his infinite stupidity, had Nono seal her when she was five. She ended up with psychosomatic trauma that caused her to lose her sight," said Luss slowly. "Her mother was kind enough to share copies of the medical reports."

Xanxus took a deep breath, trying to vent some of his rage.

"Why did none of you tell me the trash was blind?"

"We didn't know she was the same girl that had the rings," said Mammon.

"Shishishi... I almost can't wait to see the Princess and the Boss meet. Her Cloud said she has something special planned for the old bastard once she's in."

Xanxus blinked.

"Special how?"

Belphegor shivered again, his grin widening to almost frightening levels.

"If I know the princess, the it's sure to be something you'll enjoy immensely. You'll have to ask her yourself though."

Xanxus didn't know how to react to this information. Killing someone with such an obvious handicap wasn't his style... but from the sound of it the girl might not be the trash he immediately assumed she was. It took a very special something to make a brat like Belphegor shiver in open delight and anticipation, and the fact that most of his Elements already knew who she was, and winced at having to fight her.

Well, she might be worth keeping alive.

At the very least she definitely rated talking to without trying to kill her first.

* * *

Basil was openly confused...and more than a little upset about how things had gone.

He had come to Japan, intent on delivering the rings to Lady Sakura...only to find out she actually knew the Varia officers (most of them anyway) well enough to have a civil conversation with them. Even Squalo, the man who held the Varia together when Xanxus was missing, had not acted hostile to her once.

But that was only the beginning of his confusion.

The rings had been fake, the girl in question was very much blind and wanted nothing to do with Iemitsu (the mere idea of being in the same room as him had her on the verge of what was clearly a panic attack), and Nana had long since divorced Iemitsu the first chance she had without alerting him.

In short, he was very confused and more than a little hurt that his Master had used him like that. He had narrowly survived Squalo.

Nana, however, was openly frowning at him.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"It's probably nothing... but when you stand close to my daughter..." said Nana frowning.

Kyouya blinked.

"Hime, stand over here for a moment."

Sakura complied, wondering what was going on.

Kyouya wasn't the only one joining Nana in frowning. Fon, Reborn and even Skull were as well.

"Is it just me, or do they look a lot alike in the face?" asked Skull.

"It's not you," said Reborn.

Basil and Sakura had the same nose, eyes and facial structure. So much so that they could easily pass for brother and sister.

"You don't think..." said Fon.

"Considering that idiot tends to get drunk and do stupid things while avoiding his family, it's entirely possible," said Reborn darkly.

Good thing Verde could expedite something as simple as a DNA test.

And what they got back had Nana positively livid with fury.

Basil was Sakura's half brother. More than that, he was born a full year after she had married Iemitsu. Considering the mafia's stance on bastards, it was probably why no one had found out sooner.

Nana's eyes turned into steel. Her daughter got her backbone from somewhere, and it sure as hell wasn't Iemitsu.

"How hard would it be for me to take custody of Basil from the parasite?" asked Nana.

Reborn wasn't the only one smirking evilly.

"What's going on?" asked Basil, absolutely confused.

Sakura smiled at him gently.

"Mama's going to make the parasite suffer for hiding the fact I have a big brother from me. Which gives me a very good idea on how to handle him being in town. Colonello?"

"Yes, hime?" said the Rain.

"I will authorize any upgrades you want on your favorite guns if you agree to snipe Iemitsu if he comes anywhere near me. That includes within my 'visual' range. If he gets too close, feel free to take him out."

Colonello blinked.

"What?"

"Isn't that how the mafia handles restraining orders?" asked Sakura, tilting her head.

Reborn couldn't help it... he started laughing with Fon, Skull and a few others not far behind him.

"Wouldn't hiring the Rain Arcobaleno to shoot at him be considered potential patricide?" asked Basil, confused.

"That's a bit of a gray area. Considering she hasn't seen him in almost a decade, she could reasonably claim she has no idea who he was, just that he's an intruder in her territory," said Reborn.

"That and the fact she only remembers him by voice means she wouldn't even need to do that. She could just say he's a threat or someone who tried to kidnap her, and Colonello was simply defending her from him," grinned Fon.

"So... basically I'm being given free reign to shoot at an idiot who annoys me anyway...and upgrades?" said Colonello.

"Absolutely," said Sakura.

She had the rather amusing moment of Colonello hugging her rather hard.

"Best. Boss. Ever."

"Like I said, the mafia version of a restraining order, with the fun of knowing that if it's broken the other side ends up iced," said Sakura with a straight face.

Reborn cracked up again. Fon smirked behind his sleeve, and Kyouya had a vicious grin.

* * *

Sakura managed to keep her panic well hidden when Iemitsu showed up. Thankfully she had only a vague memory of his voice, and she was able to hide her panic under a cringe from the sound of a sniper rifle being fired nearby.

Hearing Iemitsu squawk from nearly having his balls shot off made her day.

"Who shot that?" demanded Squalo, already looking for a sniper.

"Colonello did. He's under orders to keep the parasite as far away from Sakura-hime as possible. Or as she put it, the mafia version of a restraining order," said Fon grinning.

Dead silence.

"Shishishi... she actually said that?" said Belphegor.

"Yes, I did. If he comes too close then Colonello has my full permission to ice the parasite."

Belphegor wasn't the only one grinning, or in his case laughing his ass off. Xanxus had a new appreciation for his opponent, blind or not. It took a special set of balls for someone raised as a civilian to calmly order the death of another person without batting an eye.

It was something he would expect from a proper Mafia Boss.

Besides, this was Iemitsu. He definitely deserved the wake up call.

"Little flower..." whined Iemitsu, only to have Colonello snipe at him a few more times in warning.

"Come any closer and I'll gladly put one between the eyes! I like Sakura-hime a hell of a lot more than I do you and I'm sure Lal will understand!" shouted Colonello.

"Shishishi... Can you do it anyway?" Belphegor shot back.

"What about the idiot's wife?" said Xanxus.

"Ex-wife. She divorced him years ago for putting a seal on her daughter," said Mammon.

Iemitsu looked at Mammon in shock.

"You're lying!"

"Ask Lal Mirch. She's the one who sent the paperwork back," said Fon.

"That, and Nana stated that if Colonello wasn't willing to shoot you then she was more than happy to brain your head in with a wok," said Reborn.

"Don't bother, the parasite has always been in denial," said Sakura. "At least so I've been told. Not like I've seen him, nor do I actually know what my birth father looks like."

Xanxus hid a snort at the subtle jab that the idiot rendered her blind. He was starting to like this kid more and more, because it was pretty damn clear she had a spine and wasn't even remotely like the moron being shot at by the Rain Arcobaleno.

Belphegor shared a smirk with Mammon and the others. He knew the Boss would like her once he meet her, or he would when this mess was over.

Sakura-hime had a perfect poker face when she was told of the fact they would have to fight for the rings, though what she said about the matter almost had Iemitsu face plant right off the cliff from shock.

"I'm not entirely surprise that old fool changed his mind without saying anything. He's _almost_ a bigger fool than the parasite up there," said Sakura scathingly.

She had no respect for Timoteo, and zero tolerance for Iemitsu. To say nothing of how she would very much like to see them both dealt with in a permanent manner so she would never have to deal with them again.

She already made plans to give Timoteo a taste of his own medicine as payback for what he did to Xanxus _and_ herself from his own incompetence.

At least Xanxus knew that she was more likely to be on his side, rather than listen to anything his "father" told her. She was possible Quality, if the way his Elements were reacting around her was any indication, though her Cloud definitely was.

Besides, she openly bribed the Rain Arcobaleno to shoot at Iemitsu and gave authorization for lethal force against her own birth father. It was hard _not_ to at least look at her a little favorably for that.


	17. Chapter 17

"Are you sure about this?" asked Nana dubiously.

"So far we've managed to keep her blindness under wraps. We can wait a few more days, and hopefully the problem will have fixed itself to a point," said Reborn.

She stabbed the door with some older papers, all of them clearly copied from the original. Then again Iemitsu hadn't noticed the laminated ones, so it was dubious if he'd even read these.

The items in question being her divorce papers on top of the fact he basically signed over the house and custody of her daughter.

She even helpfully left a note stating that he had two hours before she called the cops if he showed up again, and that her daughter's "restraining order" applied to her as well. Except this one was enforced via some of Verde's drones that didn't have any non-lethal weaponry. He seemed rather happy to have an unwilling test subject for his facial recognition targeting system. Especially in a live-fire scenario.

"So how long do you think it'll take for my daughter to win over this Xanxus character?"

"Considering her plan to deal with Timoteo without getting the alliance up in arms _and_ be poetic justice... not very long, once this mess has been cleared up. At least she has most of his Elements on her side already, which is a huge bonus since most of them are psychotic."

"Belphegor is a perfectly nice young man, even if it took him some time to drop the whole spoiled behavior around me," pouted Nana.

"...You mothered him until he quit acting like a spoiled brat, didn't you?"

"Of course not. I set Sakura on him until he learned that behaving like a brat got the puppy dog pout of doom," said Nana. "It didn't help that Sakura reminded him every time he started to misbehave that Princes should not act like spoiled children while they are outside their kingdom and happen to be guests."

That had hit home a bit more than her pouts had, and had only made him respect her a little more.

Plus Sakura shamelessly bribed Mammon with free chocolate and fresh strawberry milk in exchange for her assistance in making him _behave_ or else. The miser wasn't about to turn down such a bribe.

They left and kept the camera under the porch on, which would feed directly to Verde's computers. If Iemitsu stayed for more than two hours, he would be shot at before the cops were called.

* * *

"She still sleeping?" asked Hayato to Fon.

"Just because she doesn't really remember him doesn't mean she forgot the sound of the voices that blinded her. That, and she said something about his Flames feeling...off...to the point she wants to avoid him on instinct anyway."

According to Sakura, Iemitsu's Flames were full of so much self-delusion and narcissism that she couldn't bear to be anywhere near him, even if she had recognized who he was. The man was more lost in his own little narrow world view than her mother had been before raising a blind daughter forced her to snap out of it. She was still a bit...oblivious... to certain subjects, but that was more because she chose to ignore them than actually being unable to see it.

Like the fact Belphegor was obviously a blood-soaked child who was being raised as an assassin by his guardians. He was a danger to her and everyone in the home, but she looked past that because her daughter liked him.

She was a much better judge of character, and if Sakura was willing to give them a chance, then so would she.

Besides, if she didn't then she would have never met the most amusing person to have been dragged home that shared her love of dressing Sakura up in the cutest outfits! Lussuria was such an interesting woman, even if she was unfortunately stuck in a man's body.

* * *

Xanxus observed the "Princess" the entire time Lussuria was pounding on her Sun. The kid was decent, but he could be so much better with more training. And he was _loud_.

But it was the Cloud battle that things got interesting. Well, more interesting than seeing Colonello send that idiot Iemitsu running for his life with the barrage of semi-automatic fire while flying with that bird of his.

Best. Night. Ever.

For the most part things went as expected. They challenged the girl's Guardians, and there was a tense stalemate between the two of them. He had won the Storm and Lightning battles while she dominated the Mist, Rain and narrowly won the Sun.

Xanxus smirked when the armor broke open, revealing Timoteo. However it was _her_ reaction that surprised him the most.

She wasn't even near the old man and she started hyperventilating. Reborn openly swore when he realized it.

"Dammit. I should have known she would have a bad reaction to being this close to him. Especially with that seal still present."

Fon was quick to jump on her shoulder and was speaking in a soothing tone to her.

Dino arrived to remove Timoteo from the area, but before they did the old man pressed some of his flames into the girl. Her Guardians had to steady her, because she was openly terrified of him.

It was pretty damn clear she wanted nothing to do with the old man.

* * *

Sakura was curled into Kyouya to the point it would take a crowbar to remove her. Her entire body was on fire, almost literally and was feverish.

There was nothing they could do, as this was a side effect of suddenly unleashing ten years of Flames after being forcibly sealed when she was five.

And now all of them had been freed.

"Will she be alright?" asked Kyouya.

"Her body is adjusting to having her Flames free. With any luck she'll be ready before her fight with Xanxus," said Fon.

"Yeah, I don't know what the hell the Ninth was thinking, sealing her Flames like that in the first place," said Colonello. He wished he could help, but this was one time when adding Flames on top of Flames really wasn't a good idea.

"He wasn't. He was humoring that idiot nephew of his," said Reborn.

Considering the mess the Ninth left behind for Reborn to help sort out, he was on the verge of breaking the contract and declaring his allegiance to Sakura-hime as one of her Elements. Or as she had so eloquently called them, her "Knights".

But still, her body had a lot of catching up to do, now that the seal had finally been removed.

* * *

 _She was back in the water again. Except this time she wasn't in the cage. It was gone, gone forever._

 _She felt like she was floating, in that lake made of fire._

 _Slowly, slowly she drifted into something. She opened her eyes, here, in this place where she could See._

 _There were more colors now. Every time she opened her eyes there were shadows upon shadows._

 _A cooling hand was placed upon her forehead. She knew immediately it was Kyou-chan... she would know him anywhere._

 _She saw other fires nearby, like the spirits that she remembered hearing about when she was little._

 _Touching one, she felt Hayato's strong enduring spirit... the sense of absolute loyalty to her, and to the family she was creating._

 _She touched another...this one was Fon's calming nature, the eye of the storm that could wipe out everything and anything that got in his path to what he wanted to do._

 _A bright sunshine was Reborn, and it was full of chaos...but at the same time there was a sense of dependability and trust._

 _Colonello's rain was full of mischief and enthusiasm, though it was tempered by experience and his military history._

 _Skull was a happy Cloud, one who was glad to have found his Sky. Someone who actually_ listened _and cared when he was hurt, and who wouldn't hesitate to protect him when he needed it._

 _Verde was a crackle of lighting, the sort that brought any number of interesting things to life._

 _Sakura smiled, and hugged them all tighter...but she held the unrelenting cloud of Kyou-chan the closest._

 _Her Flames reached out to all the Elements she had gathered around her, from the bright fires of the Arcobaleno to the little Flames of I-Pin and Fuuta...and with a single move she allowed her Flames to mingle with theirs._

 _Harmonization was never properly explained to her, not that she could considering the seal. She had done well enough at this point to hold close the Flames she had gathered without that. But now... now they were hers to care for._

* * *

Kyouya felt it the same moment Fon and the rest did. That feeling of warmth, of _home_ , inside their chests as Sakura reached out to the people she had collected and allowed her Flames to reach theirs. It was indescribable, and something inside him uncoiled like a cat in the sun, and was positively purring.

Reborn was the first to check on her, and his look of relief made a lot of them relax.

"Her fever is going down. Her Flames will settle before morning with any luck."

"What was that?" asked Hayato, rubbing his chest.

"Harmonization. It's why Skies are so coveted," said Verde, pushing up his glasses. "And considering her Sky is so vast and open, she'll be even more sought after once it settles properly."

Though the Arcobaleno wouldn't say it, this was the first time they felt the effects of _proper_ harmonization. Luce already had her Guardians when they found her, and their bond had been lackluster at best. This though... even Verde would cheerfully slaughter anyone who tried to take it from him.

There was a distinct show of spine in the girl now. Even he could feel the pull of her Sky, and considering he was one himself that was pretty damn impressive. Still, he wouldn't hand over the half-ring just because of that. Even if she _did_ manage to snag almost every Arcobaleno save for Mammon as her Elements.

Seeing her stand there with her odd cane, Xanxus observed her carefully. He wanted to see exactly what it was that made even _his_ Elements consider her Quality to the point of warranting a name like Princess.

"The battle between Xanxus of the Varia and Sakura may now begin!"

Xanxus opened fired the second the last word was said, and to his delight the girl managed to block it with that stick of hers.

His grin was wild and very vicious.

 _With Reborn and the others..._

Seeing Sakura-hime in action was awe inspiring. She wasted no movements and with her Flames unsealed you could feel how much power she had behind that tiny body of hers.

A good thing Fon got her early... she was instinctively using her Flames with her moves to fight back on equal ground with the Varia Boss. Seeing her unleash a phoenix made purely of fire (in place of Fon's familiar Storm Dragon) on Xanxus was a thing of beauty to watch, and Fon had a very self-satisfied smile on his face.

Then again he had been training her since she was roughly seven and a half, and she was a very enthusiastic student. Seeing her use his own moves against a worthy opponent was something that made him happy. Very, very happy, like Reborn with the promise of truly epic chaos.

Sakura was not only holding her own, but her Flames were slowly chipping away at the rage inside of Xanxus. The Wrath Flames were getting smaller and smaller, while hers burn brighter and brighter.

"Voi. I never knew the brat had it in her to actually overtake the Boss like that," said Squalo in shock.

Belphegor, who had been passing by while trying to avoid an incensed Kyouya, snickered.

"The Princess is overtaking the Dragon."

Hearing the crack of the X-Guns, and the sound of the staff spinning rapidly enough that the Wrath flames dispersed away from their target, it was something out of a dream.

A tiny girl, holding her own against a hardened assassin like Xanxus and not even batting a sweat... all while wearing her special headphones. Her face was entirely blank, her mind only on beating her opponent and protecting her Elements.

All the while, the gentle tinkling of bells was heard all over the battlefield, even over the sounds of explosions and yelling.

Seeing Sakura-hime put her staff to Xanxus' throat and force him to submit...it was amazing.

Her eyes were like a clear sky, blazing with Flames and power unleashed.

Xanxus handed over the ring easily enough. But he never expected what she did next.

She hugged him.

"You must have been in pain for a very long time, because of _that_ man. Being alone is terrifying, and the fact he betrayed you so thoroughly in inexcusable. It's not right, lying to you about the truth for so long," she said gently.

Xanxus was having a hard time fighting the effects of her Sky. And the sad thing was, he wasn't entirely certain he _wanted_ to fight it. The feeling of pure acceptance, of having a home no one could take from him where he didn't have to put on a mask was difficult to resist. A lot of the aches and pains he had in his soul were being soothed, healed over.

"It doesn't matter to me if you decide that man isn't you father. You're still family," said Sakura, holding him in a tight hug.

He felt the moment her Sky accepted his Wrath. Accepted _him_ as he was, not as the old bastard wanted him to be. Something inside his soul relaxed.

Verde was recording the entire thing.

"This is fascinating, watching a Transcendent soothe a Wrath like that. The data alone is entirely worth acting as her Lightning," he said with glee. He was very pleased that he was getting even _more_ data because she was wearing the headphones he made her.

"The winner of the scramble battle is Sakura."

Xanxus couldn't believe he lost to a brat...but at least she was nothing like that moron Iemitsu, or worse, Timoteo.

He was barely at the edge of the school grounds when Sakura's voice cut across the cold night.

"And where do you think you're going?" said Sakura in a no-nonsense tone.

"I lost. We're leaving."

Sakura put her hands on her hips, and Xanxus suddenly had the weird mental image of his grandmother Daniela overlapping her.

"You are going to stay so we can properly get to know you. I refuse to let my new Onii-san leave without a proper introduction, and Mama said she was interested in meeting someone who actually made sense from that stupid family," said Sakura firmly.

Xanxus stared.

"You actually want me to meet your _civilian_ mother, and stick around, despite the fact we just tried to kill you."

"She got used to the Prince quickly enough. I doubt you'd be much worse than he was before we broke him of some of his bad behavior," said Sakura. Then an impish smile came upon her face. "Besides, I bet it would annoy that parasite immensely knowing that we're on better terms with the Varia than the Ninth generation."

"...Sold, but there had better be some good alcohol," said Xanxus, after barely thinking about it.


	18. Chapter 18

"Shark trash... how the hell did we end up in a party after we just tried to kill them?" asked Xanxus. He even sounded confused.

Squalo rolled his eyes.

"It's the Princess. When she gets her mind to something, it's damn near impossible to change it. Especially when she turns those eyes of hers on you," said Squalo.

As if drawn to that statement, Sakura-hime turned her face to Xanxus with the most innocent and open expression he'd ever seen. It was so damn pure that just looking at it made him want to cave into whatever insane idea she had.

"What. The. Hell. How is she even _doing_ that?!" said Xanxus baffled. Seriously, the way her aura felt was ridiculous, and it was impossible to believe she was part of the underworld to the point she could hold her own even against him!

And yet, when she got serious there was very little doubt that she could take out anyone who challenged her. Her strength was a quiet one that did not demand recognition...but was all the more devastating for it.

He didn't have to look far for the source of that. After all, it was sitting on her shoulder.

Still, Xanxus had to say something.

"So, _Hime_ , exactly what is your plan once you take over the Vongola?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't see the old bastard going quietly."

Sakura's face went completely blank, before going into a perfect copy of Fon's serene smile. Except her aura alone felt more like the Storm about to unleash his more terrifying techniques, or perhaps Reborn about to cause all hell to break loose so he could enjoy the show. Xanxus found himself smirking.

"Why I intend to play along until he annoys me, of course. Then I'll do to him what he did to us," said Sakura with perfect sincerity.

"Go on," said Xanxus, almost eagerly.

"I have Verde working on stasis chambers that will be low enough in temperature to lower the circulation, but not enough for frostbite. Anyone stuck in it for a long term...say five years... will come out temporarily blind."

Xanxus wasn't the only one staring.

"You're going to freeze the Ninth and his Guardians in chambers, as if they were thrown into the Zero Point Breakthrough...and cause them to go blind?" he said, incredulous.

"Turnabout is fair play, and you can't say they _don't_ deserve that much. Besides, it keeps them out of the way while WE clean house without their interference. I'm sure that man will focus more on the little brush fires rather than the raging inferno that is the mess he's leaving behind for me to clean up."

"We?"

"You're saying you don't want to help me clean house of all the 'trash' that's infested the Family because that man was too blind to see what was happening under his reign? I could care less how you do it, just that they're made examples of and the rest of the lot is loyal to the Family."

Xanxus' smile was downright vicious.

He had absolutely no regrets, bowing down to this girl. She had turned her blindness from a weakness into her greatest strength. And she hid her true nature behind that Princess persona of hers.

She might have been born to Iemitsu, but underneath she bore a terrifying resemblance to Daniela.

This was one Princess he wouldn't mind serving under.

All the while, Sakura held the same serene smile on her face, as if she hadn't just basically explained to her family that she intended to make the Ninth suffer for what he had done to his own kin.

Reborn had a rather predictable reaction to this declaration.

"Be sure to give me a heads up, if only so I can cancel the contract in time to watch the chaos unfold," he said grinning.

Sakura-hime's plan to "deal" with the Ninth and his people without killing them (thus getting her into more trouble than it was worth) was so perfectly vindictive and in line with how a true mafioso thought that Reborn couldn't help feeling proud of her.

* * *

Sakura was wincing, and it had nothing to do with her super-hearing. For one thing, her headphones were canceling out _all_ sounds around her, leaving her completely "blind" to the outside world.

And yet, she kept getting these weird flashes whenever her eyes were open and it was hurting her a lot. So much so that Kyouya forced her to lie down in his office.

It took him a few minutes to realize what was going on. Mostly because he took out a flashlight and put it to her eyes.

His sharp inhalation of breath said volumes.

"Kyou-chan?" she whispered, almost wincing at the sound.

"Hime... your eyes..."

They were attempting to _focus_ under the light. On a hunch, he drew the blinds down to lower the ambient light in the room, and she seemed to calm down a bit.

"Kyou-chan?"

Kyouya put his hand on her cheek.

"Sakura-hime... the reason you're in pain right now is because you're getting an influx of light and your brain isn't used to the new stimulation," said Kyouya gently.

Sakura was silent, before she spoke in a shaky voice.

"Are you saying..."

"I'm saying you're starting to get your sight back. It might not be very strong at first, but you'll be able to see again," said Kyouya.

She started crying. She had been blind for so long she had forgotten what it was like to _see_ anything.

Kyouya was already texting Verde with this new information. If anyone could whip up something to help Sakura-hime slowly adjust to being able to see again, it was him. After all, the headphones he made for her were perfect for dealing with large crowds since it filtered out the overwhelming noise.

Needless to say the news Sakura _might_ be regaining her lost sight spread through her Elements like a wildfire.

Verde quickly made a pair of glasses that he handed Sakura. Once she had it on, it filtered the ambient light in the room to smaller doses. It would take a week for her to adjust to her new situation, but at least she didn't suffer major panic attacks like when she had to get used to being blind in the first place.

Of course no one brought into account the fact that Giannini hadn't exactly fixed all the modified ammunition to the Ten Year Bazooka during his brief appearance several months ago, before Verde arrived. Or that Lambo would accidentally hit Sakura-hime with it.

Tracking down the man in question to recreate what he had done in order to find her was going to be a nightmare and a half. Good thing her Elements had _plenty_ of motivation for it.

* * *

Sakura blinked as she tried to orient herself. She had been heading to Kyouya's home with her bag, as she planned to spend the weekend there training with Fon. Since she was slowly regaining her sight, she would need the help adjusting to the new influx of information from her eyes.

Her new glasses were designed to adjust the ambient light in response to her pupils. There was a small computer run by solar energy, and it detected when it started to become painful.

Verde had her sit down for several hours to calibrate when it had reached the correct setting, and had it set for automatic.

This was the first time she was hit with the Ten Year Bazooka, so she just had to wait for five minutes to pass before she could visit Kyou-chan.

Though it was odd that none of her Knights were within range of her senses. She always had at least _one_ familiar flame around her at all times, whether it was the discreet Arcobaleno guard (usually Skull) or Hayato and his puppyish enthusiasm.

And the guard had been sticking particularly close since they realized she was starting to see again. Mostly because there was a distinct risk she would accidentally walk into something, since she wasn't used to sight.

Like traffic, for instance.

Sakura frowned. She was sure it had been more than five minutes, so why was she still here?

When she felt the sun go down (mostly from the temperature drop) she started to worry.

Something was wrong. She had been her far too long and hadn't felt a shift in location like before.

Getting up from her spot on the branch, she brushed off any dust or debris before heading to the nearest source of familiar sounds. I/E, that of civilization. She made sure to remove her glasses. Right now she needed to be at her best, not trying to adjust to her missing senses.

And that meant she had to forego attempting to _see_ and just listen.

The first thing she deduced was that she wasn't in Japan anymore. She didn't hear one word of Japanese, but she did hear plenty of Italian.

Another thing missing was the sound of cars. She had learned to tune that out years ago, along with several other missing elements like the subtle hum of electronics.

Instead she heard animals, likely horses, and people loudly speaking in Italian. There was also the sound of 'wheels' on cobblestone and dirt, and the creaking groan of wood. She suspected those to be carriages.

It was all very loud, but not overwhelming. Good thing she had her special headphones on. Not the ones she wore for fun (though she did have those on her), but the discreet variety that didn't send the teachers in a snit if she wore them in class.

They looked like an ordinary headband any girl would wear, except they fit neatly over her ears and could change color depending on her mood. At least according to Verde anyway.

All in all, it didn't feel or sound anything like ten years in her future.

In fact she suspected it was the opposite...that she had to be several years in the past, possibly centuries if carriages were this common. Those went out of style soon after cars became commonplace.

" _OI! Move out of the way brat!"_ shouted a rude voice in Italian. Considering she could 'hear' a horse in front of her, she turned her face to the man who shouted. She took two steps back, allowing him to pass, and scrunching up her nose at the mess the horse left behind.

Definitely the past. Talk about unsanitary.

Well, since it appeared she was stuck in the past she might as well make the best of it.

Using skills she had long since perfected, she managed to locate the church...namely because she could hear the choir singing from clear across the village. She slowly opened the door and heard it much clearer and smiled.

It took her a few moments to register someone was next to her, near the isle.

" _Did you enjoy the service, miss?"_ asked a man.

" _The singing was beautiful,"_ said Sakura easily. _"Do you know of any place I could spend the night? I'm afraid my friends and I were separated on the road and they were carrying all our coin."_

" _The church always has room for travelers in need. Though our fare is simple, it is hearty and filling."_

" _Thank you,"_ she said kindly.

She decided that until she knew exactly what had gone wrong, she should make it a little more _obvious_ she was blind. When the priest saw her cane and the fact she was very cautious about walking, she could sense his sympathy without having to see it.

" _Are you without sight, by any chance?"_ he asked gently.

" _I was robbed of my sight when I was a child. I have grown used to it, but it's very disconcerting losing my minders,"_ she replied.

She hated the pity and the fake sympathy that came from her condition, but in these circumstances she couldn't afford to be picky. If people knew she was blind then they'd underestimate her long enough for her to deal with any trouble that came.

The priest and his people were kind, and while the bed wasn't the softest around she wasn't exactly that picky to begin with. Then she heard a sound from her bag and her face brightened.

"You alright, Princess?" asked a voice.

Kero-chan, the sneaky thing, had snuck into her bag!

She easily pulled out the creature (which Takeshi and the others swore up and down looked almost identical to the doll the Rain had given her for her birthday), and then felt another oddity in her bag. It was the Mokona that Verde had made for her.

" _Mekyo! Mokona Modoki, ready to go!"_ it chirped, before taking a spot on her shoulder.

Mokona could help her navigate, since it was directly connected to her headphones and could give her directions when she had to cut off all sound. It was also a very good spy, since no one ever noticed the odd rabbit wandering around.

She hugged Mokona to her arms, and Kero-chan made himself scarce whenever people came near.

Odds are people would simply mistake the odd 'rabbit' as a doll.

* * *

For the next two days, Sakura kept an ear out for her friends...because she had no doubt they _would_ try to find a way to track her down the first chance they had...only to be disappointed when no one came.

And while the priest and the others were friendly enough, she didn't want to burden them with her presence for too long. Four days was her limit to _that_.

Oddly enough, she only had to spend three days before something happened that had her immediate attention.

A strong, steady Sun flame was approaching the church, and from the sounds of the priest, the owner of that flame was a familiar and welcome presence.

" _Master Knuckle!"_

Knuckle? Why did that name sound so familiar?

Sakura listened in, before making her presence known. She had been hiding her Flame on instinct, knowing that the familigias would hunt down any Sky that wasn't already attached to a family with a known name for the prestige alone. Especially in Italy.

It happened to Xanxus. And she would not be tied down to some Family when she had one already waiting for her back home.

The priest had a quiet discussion with Knuckle, and she waited to find out which family he belonged to.

The second she heard Vongola, her heart damn near stopped.

Strong Sun flame. Well known to the clergy. In the distant past. A familiar name.

Oh gods... she was in the _Primo's_ time!

She knew she recognized that name! Knuckle was the Primo's Sun Guardian, and from what she understood he was similar to Ryohei!

She was going to kill Giannini!

Still, she was able to secure a visit to the Vongola mansion...mostly so they could help find her "minders" that she had gotten separated from, since obviously the Vongola had the resources to locate a group missing a girl her age that happened to be blind.


	19. Chapter 19

Her suspicion was firmly confirmed when she heard the name of the Vongola's leader.

She was going to strangle that idiot mechanic.

Sakura had the distinct suspicion she hadn't fooled Alaude for a minute with her story, but the simple fact was that she had no other choice. It wasn't like time travel was COMMON. Not like it was back home, when the Ten Year Bazooka was met with more annoyance than excitement. Unless you were one of the trio of scientists who wanted to recreate the effects.

She was lead to one of the smaller guest rooms, and with how exhausting today had been (with the revelation she was in her who-knew-how-many-great times grandfather's time) and having to deceive the Vongola leader, she curled up under the covers and laid down. Kero immediately took his usual spot on her pillow, though if anything happened he would be awake in an instant and ready to burn anyone who tried anything.

* * *

 _With Giotto..._

"I don't trust her. Her story doesn't add up," said Alaude immediately.

"You really think she's faking her blindness?" scoffed G.

Alaude glared at him.

"Her condition is real. But her story feels off. If she really did lose her minders on the road, why haven't they appeared. Surely _someone_ would be asking questions about a blind girl by now. And her reaction to our names... she _knew_ us."

"That's not surprising," said Giotto. They were fairly well known in this region.

"I suspect she's hiding something," said Alaude flatly, before going out.

He would get to the bottom of their new guest. His instincts were screaming at him to "protect her" and he wanted to know WHY. While even he could tell she wasn't faking her condition, she _was_ hiding something big.

Asari was the one who discovered her sound asleep in the guest room, so he left her alone. Though he did wonder where the winged bear came from. The creature gave him a firm glare from the pillow, and curled closer to the girl.

Clearly the thing was her "protector".

"Kero-chan?" said the girl. Asari raised an eyebrow in surprise. The girl had been speaking perfect Italian before, but now she was speaking Japanese. His native tongue.

On a hunch, he waited for her to register his presence before he spoke in Japanese as well.

"Dinner is ready. If you want I could help you find the dining hall," he said gently.

"Thank you," she replied, before she registered what he said.

Asari grinned. So that was what she was hiding from them... she wasn't a native Italian! Alaude was just being a worrywart like usual.

The girl didn't even blink when the bear thing flew onto her shoulder, and easily took his arm as he lead her to the dining room.

"So what's your real name?"

"Hibari Sakura. It wasn't like I could explain my odd name without drawing the wrong sorts of attention. It's just lucky I speak Italian so fluently...some of my minders can't speak it at all."

Like Takeshi and Ryohei.

"How are you liking Italy?"

"It's interesting. I don't normally get to practice Italian that often," she said cheerfully. "Even if it is slightly annoying I have to hide the fact I'm Japanese to avoid trouble that I don't want. There's no telling when someone is being honest with their intentions after all, and being blind is descriptive enough for my friends to find me."

Asari nodded in agreement. A girl in a country she wasn't familiar with was just asking for some unsavory person to lead her off into a lot of trouble she didn't need. There weren't many blind girls with a winged teddy bear that could fly, so it wasn't as if she really needed to be that obvious.

Besides, it had been far too long since he was able to speak to someone in his native language like this. The others only used it to keep their skills sharp, though very rarely.

Hearing the sounds of the dining room, she promptly switched to Italian.

Alaude glared at her, deeply suspicious and eyes already narrowing on the bear.

The bear gave a 'huff', before turning it's head away from Alaude in a an almost feline show of disdain for his presence. Giotto snickered from where he was, in open amusement.

Though he did raise an eyebrow when Asari had another pair of chopsticks brought for their guest.

Asari was still grinning.

" _Okay, why did you ask for more chopsticks?"_ asked Lampo, curious. It wasn't like anyone but Asari used them in the house, and only then when he was feeling homesick.

Their guest had a bit of an impish smile, before she answered him. In fluent Japanese, no less.

"Possibly because I'm more used to them than I am with a fork and knife?" she suggested with a smile.

Giotto stared for a few seconds, before he started laughing.

"Well no wonder he thought you were hiding something! You didn't mention you were Japanese!" he said, shooting Alaude an amused look.

Sakura huffed, in a way that was similar to her pet.

"Of course I wouldn't bring _that_ up. I'm a half-Japanese girl in a country I've never visited before who's lost their friends. Only a fool would bring up the fact they're a foreigner when they have no way of telling if someone is being honest about their intentions. My condition is unusual enough to help locate me," said Sakura bluntly.

Giotto was still chuckling, though most of the concerns Alaude brought up were put to rest finding out she had "merely" been hiding her nationality and not something worse.

Alaude however was not convinced, but he also wasn't stupid enough to bring it up a second time. At least not yet.

Not while Giotto's own suspicions were easily calmed with a truth that didn't mean much outside of keeping suspicion off the girl.

* * *

 _One week later..._

Sakura was about to head outside when there was a loud explosion outside. Almost immediately she felt someone's hand on her shoulder and it took her several seconds to identify it as G.

She didn't ask where they were going, as everyone assumed they were under attack.

They were going past one of the windows that went outside when a second explosion was heard, and was quickly followed by a loud cry of "Hime!"

Sakura's head whipped to the sound. She knew that voice anywhere.

"Hayato?"

G looked at the kid who could pass as his silver haired son with shock.

" _Sakura, you know this brat?"_

She nodded.

" _Hands off the principessa, asshole!"_ said Hayato with anger, already drawing up more dynamite.

G stared for a second, startled the boy could speak Italian.

"Hayato, calm down!" said Sakura firmly.

The boy, Hayato blinked for a second before looking at Sakura.

"But Hime..."

"No buts! Besides...it's going to be a headache enough explaining why they shouldn't punish you for making such a mess in the _Vongola_ mansion," she said, stressing the name.

Hayato blinked, before he registered what she was saying.

Sakura gently put a hand on his head.

"It's okay Hayato. You didn't know," she said kindly.

" _Is this the brat who blew a hole in my mansion?"_ asked a voice behind them.

Hayato turned and paled when he saw Giotto. Then he realized the same thing she had over a week ago.

"Hayato, did anyone else come with you?"

"Just Chrome."

A second figure, smaller and clearly more timid than Hayato, came through the opening in the wall.

"Hime," said Chrome in relief. Sakura hugged the girl to her.

It made sense to send Chrome... with how connected she was to Mukuro she might be able to send a message back to the others.

Giotto watched the exchange, giving Hayato and Chrome odd looks.

" _Sakura,_ _who are these two?"_

" _This is Gokudera Hayato, my vassal and Dokuro Chrome, my handmaiden."_

Considering how far back they were in the past, it was probably better to use the older terms.

Hayato gave her an odd look.

" _I'm her Knight_ ," he said absently, glaring at anyone who dared even look at Sakura wrong.

Dinner was...awkward...to say the least.

Apparently Hayato had been sent out to find her because he was classed as "expendable" enough that if he was lost it wouldn't be too big of an impact. Something that had Sakura scolding him soundly for even agreeing to that horrible assessment, because he actually believed he was expendable in the first place. Chrome had a connection to another Mist, one that would make communicating with the others much easier.

The reason for the awkwardness had more to do with the fact Hayato looked like a younger, silver haired G, and Chrome looked like a much younger and _female_ Daemon. It didn't help that Chrome couldn't speak Italian, though Hayato was fluent.

And then came time for bed. Hayato would have put up a fight, but he was cowed easily by Sakura's frown and the fact she was _very_ upset that he had even remotely considered himself 'expendable' in the first place, regardless of what the situation was.

And Chrome was so skittish that no one had the heart to say she couldn't share the room with Sakura, who clearly didn't care in the first place.

However their arrival only made Alaude _more_ suspicious of Sakura.

Her similarity to Giotto was easily dismissed. A coincidence. However having two obvious Guardians that looked almost _identical_ to Giotto's own Storm and Mist, that had his hackles up.

Which would only blow the secret she was trying to keep quiet wide open.

Though to be fair, hiding the fact she was from the future was a lost cause the second Kyouya showed up.

* * *

It was such a nice day out. Too bad it was quickly ruined by Alaude confronting Sakura over the fact she was hiding something.

Chrome stiffened at the look on Alaude's face, and Hayato was already growling.

G and Asari were already heading their way, whether to stop Alaude from harassing them, or help, was unknown.

Mostly because when Alaude took Sakura firmly by the arm, there was another loud explosion...followed by a growl.

"Release Sakura-hime or I will bite you to death," said a familiar voice.

"Kyou-chan!" said Sakura happily.

Alaude turned...and his eyes widened considerably.

Standing very close was a boy that could have passed for his son, except he was clearly of Asian descent and had black hair with steel gray eyes.

And judging from the look he was shooting Alaude, was a scant second away from a large amount of impending violence.

"Now, now Kyouya. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the Primo's Cloud Guardian has his hand on her arm like that," said another voice.

There on the boy's shoulder was a baby with a red pacifier and serene smile. One that _also_ looked far too much like him for his sanity. Though it didn't reach his eyes, as he was clearly giving Alaude a Look that said if he didn't release Sakura very quickly his "double" was going to be the LEAST of his problems.

Alaude went for his handcuffs, mostly in response to the impending violence.

 _"What the hell is going on here?!"_ demanded Giotto, before he stared at Kyouya and Fon. _"...Is anyone else seeing three pairs of Alaude or is it just me?"_

" _It's not you,"_ said G stunned.

Because seriously, if the teen and his bird was startling enough, seeing the toddler version with a long braid down his back and a monkey on his head went beyond weird.

Giotto looked at an amused Sakura and her friends.

" _I think it's time we had a long overdue chat,"_ he said finally.

Sakura sighed.

" _Considering it looks like Verde finally figured out_ when _I was sent and managed to lock on my location, I suppose it was inevitable. At least they didn't send Mukuro with Kyou-chan, otherwise it would have become a major mess."_

Within less than an hour, Giotto and his Guardians were looking at Sakura expectantly.

Rather than waste time explaining about the ten year bazooka and time travel, she went the simple route.

She pulled out the necklace she had kept hidden under her collar...and put the ring on the desk in front of Giotto. It took him a few seconds to register what he was looking at before his jaw dropped.

" _You mean you're..._ " he said shocked.

She smiled at him.

" _I'm the heir to the position of Vongola Decimo...grandfather. And they are some of my Guardians...and my fiancee."_

" _And the toddler?"_ asked Alaude, twitching.

Fon smiled serenely at Alaude, making the twitching worse.

" _I'm his grandfather and the surrogate father of Sakura-hime,"_ he replied.

" _He's an Arcobaleno...though odds are you haven't heard of them yet,"_ said Hayato.

Giotto rubbed his face tiredly.

" _So just to be clear, you are all from the future... how did you end up_ here _?"_

" _Time travel, or at least temporary travel, is possible where we're from though it's only supposed to last five minutes. Somehow Sakura-hime was hit with a modified version of it and ended up in the past...it took us two weeks before we were able to find another one and use it to calibrate the device that sent us after her,"_ said Hayato tiredly. _"We have no idea when the effects will wear off."_

" _And I take it that the other Guardians will be showing up soon?"_ said Giotto dryly.

" _Hibari only came here because he's Sakura-hime's fiancee and the one who will do_ anything _to protect her once he's found her. They might send the others, but he's the one who'll act as her main protector,"_ said Hayato.

Giotto blinked.

" _Wait... you said your name was Sakura_ Hibari _. How can you..."_

Fon and Kyouya looked at Sakura in a mixture of amusement and exasperation. She rolled her eyes or at least tried to.

" _Like I wouldn't have taken his name in two years anyway. No way was I keeping that man's surname after what he pulled,"_ she said flatly.

Kyouya was clearly pleased hearing that explanation. Fon just looked amused.

"Mine," he said, hugging her tightly. The fact she didn't even bat an eyelash at the action spoke of how close they were. She lightly tapped him on the nose though.

"No biting anyone to death unless they annoy you too much,"she said with fondness.

Seeing Asari blink before trying very, very hard not to laugh (and the baffled looks of everyone else who more or less caught that), it was clear that the Cloud was very possessive of his princess.


	20. Chapter 20

**NOTICE: While I appreciate the many, many alerts from fans about the fact someone might be stealing my work and posting it as their own on Ao3, I would like to clarify a minor misconception.**

 ** _OrionPax9_ ASKED me if they could post this particular story and others on their account BEFORE they posted it, and I gave them permission to do so since I don't mess with Ao3 at the moment. I don't mind people borrowing off my work so long as they ask first and send me links to their own so I can see what they came up with. I am an avid reader and I encourage others to try their own luck at making new stories for everyone to enjoy.**

 **So again, thank you to all those who cared enough to give me a head's up and alert me to a possibly copy cat.**

* * *

It seemed whoever had managed to locate Sakura's group got the hang of sending her "Knights" (which suited her far more than the term Guardian did) to her. Because one morning they found _three_ of them on the front lawn, with only one of them remotely able to speak Italian.

Good thing it was Asari who stumbled across them, even if there was a bit of a double take seeing his own "double" there.

Sakura frowned when she felt the tackle of the small Lightning, who acted far too much like Lampo (their names were only a letter apart, which only made things worse) and looked at Takeshi (the Rain double of Asari) with a Look.

"Ahaha... Verde said that since Chrome was acting in Mukuro's place, and he was needed to insure we made it back safely that Lambo should be sent instead," explained Takeshi nervously.

"And Mama agreed to that?"

Lambo was particularly attached to her mother.

"He was insufferable when he found out you were missing," said Kyouya crossly.

Considering he was acting very much like a limpet on her leg, she could believe it.

"Did Reborn come as well?"

Takeshi shook his head, before he belated remembered she still couldn't see just yet.

"He deemed Fon sufficient as a bodyguard, especially since you'll be training on your sight for a while. And considering _most_ of his methods of training are rather...sadistic..."

Fon smiled, though it wasn't very nice.

" _What do you mean train her sight?"_ asked Giotto, having been passing by at the time.

" _Her blindness wasn't the result of an injury or any natural cause, but the result of her birth father's stupidity and the foolishness of Vongola Nono. They placed a seal on her flames when she was still very young and the shock of it caused her to go blind. It's been removed recently, but she's still learning to adjust to seeing things again,"_ explained Fon patiently in Italian.

Sakura had a tired smile on her face.

" _I mostly just let my eyes adjust to the natural light that comes in the early morning, before I put my special glasses on. It used to be really blurry but now it's starting to have real shapes again."_

Sakura was bound and determined to make the first person she saw once her sight was more or less back her Cloud Guardian. She wanted to see Kyouya without having to use sound and the flame sense technique (which mostly colored him in purple and indigo colors).

Hence why she left her glasses off in the morning. Thanks to the fact that it usually took an hour or so for the sun to properly light up the room, her eyes were able to adjust naturally without the help of Verde's special glasses.

She was starting to make out actual shapes that matched what her echolocation was telling her they should be, and there were so many colors! She had almost forgotten what a joy it was to see colors!

She would have thought the sky to be orange, considering the color of a Sky Flame.

Giotto looked appalled and rightly so, upon learning _why_ she was blind. Worse, finding out it was one of his own descendants that did this to his own child.

Fortunately he had something to distract them all from such depressing thoughts.

" _The annual ball is coming up next week, and it's our turn to host. Mostly it's a chance for the allied families to mingle,"_ said Giotto.

He knew he said the right thing with how quickly her eyes light up.

" _A ball as in dancing?"_ she asked, eyes almost twinkling.

Fon chuckled on her shoulder.

" _Now you've done it. I hope you realize we're not going to save whoever is unlucky enough to drag the boys to town for proper suits,"_ said Fon.

" _They don't like dressing up?"_ asked Giotto.

" _No, but Kyouya hates crowding. They'll agree to it readily enough when they realize how excited she is about showing off how well she can dance, but heaven help you if Kyouya gets irritated."_

" _...I'll have Asari take him separately, while G handles the others."_

" _Be sure to bring grapes to bribe Lambo with. He might behave better if you do,"_ she advised.

Giotto chuckled.

" _Don't think you're getting out of it either, little princess,"_ he said with amusement.

Only to hear Fon's snort from her shoulder, as he was clearly trying very hard not to laugh.

" _What's so funny?"_ asked Giotto.

" _What made you think the extra bag Takeshi was carrying was just for them? Most of the boys brought three spare sets of clothing, and the largest one was for her,"_ said Fon laughing.

It wasn't until dinner, when Sakura put on one of the "extras" Takeshi had been carrying that he got the joke.

She had an entire closet full of outfits that wouldn't look out of place in a proper ball, and she wore them like it was everyday wear.

He didn't know what this "costume play" was, or what it had to do with her wardrobe. Just that she was mostly humoring the boys since they _did_ need a new set of suits for the occasion. Which considering the headaches of having to explain younger doubles of his Guardians, would be a masquerade ball. A bit more hectic to arrange, but it kept them from having to explain time travel to the allies.

He'd rather do the paperwork for a rather unusual ball than explain that his descendant, her Guardians and her "father" who all bore a resemblance to his own people had come via time travel.

Of course Fon would act as her eyes. After all, Sakura wouldn't really know what suited her best and if nothing else she at least had something to fall back on.

* * *

Sakura was so looking forward to this ball, if only so she had an excuse to dance with Kyouya. Especially considering the fact that the images she could 'see' with eyes were no longer just indistinct blurs, but were becoming sharper with every passing day.

She had high hopes of being able to see again before the ball. Not that she told the others that.

And then the day came. She helped Chrome with the corset, since the girl was unused to such things.

The poor girl was looking very overwhelmed with the extravagance. Fortunately that's why Sakura had her with Takeshi...he could keep the girl's nerves calm discreetly. Ryohei was too loud and Hayato was too quick on the draw.

Sakura was practically fluttering about, in a very good mood.

"Someone's happy," commented Kyouya from the doorway. He was very dashing in his fitted suit and violet shirt. Hibird was calmly sitting on his shoulder, chirping happily.

"I've never been to a proper ball before," she said happily.

Kyouya smirked.

"You look every inch the proper princess that you are," he said, with a kiss on the back of her hand. Sakura blushed, pleased.

"I hope you girls are ready," said Fon. Like Kyouya, he was in something a bit more formal.

"Almost!" said Sakura with a chirp. She just had to do Chrome's hair and they'd be ready.

Giotto beamed when he saw them.

"The buffet table is over there. And the band should be starting once more guests arrive. If anyone asks you're my cousin from China," said Giotto.

"Got it," said Sakura.

Good thing she could speak fluent Chinese, and it wasn't like the Italians could tell the difference between someone of Chinese or Japanese heritage.

Sakura kept her eyes more or less closed for the ball. No one really batted an eye at her headphones, thinking they were part of her mask.

She smiled when Kyouya took her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor.

"This is beautiful," she said, easily allowing him to take the lead.

"It is," he agreed.

"It's almost a pity that we have to wear the masks. It would be funny to see people's faces if they saw three of Alaude," said Sakura smiling.

Kyouya smirked in amusement. The reaction of the staff was funny enough.

"The knights look like they're having fun," said Kyouya.

"Well you all look quite dashing. Especially with how you're all wearing shirts that match your Flames," said Sakura.

Kyouya blinked, as her words registered.

"How do you know that?"

"The same way I know your eyes almost match perfectly with your tonfas, and how Fon is wearing an outfit that matches the color of his pacifier. I didn't want to say anything because it would ruin the surprise," said Sakura.

Kyouya's smile was much wider and full of warmth this time.

"You can see again."

"It almost matches with what my ears are telling me, but I think I can make do with simple reading glasses," said Sakura. "But I wanted to make sure the first thing I could see properly was your face."

He kissed her soundly. This was the best news he had heard in years.

"Mine."

"Always, Kyou-chan," she replied, kissing him back.

The party is a smashing success... and then Sakura became irritated with the band. While she wasn't that familiar with this particular composer of classical music, even she can tell when they are missing notes. The entire thing sounds discordant and offends her greatly.

"Hayato, I can't take much more of this. Shall we show these people what _real_ music sounds like?" she said in disgust.

Hayato nodded eagerly. Playing for Sakura-hime had done wonders to help him overcome the bad feelings he had for playing the piano. Besides, the duets that the two of them made were very hard to beat.

Sakura waited for Hayato to start playing, before she easily drew her staff. With a few touches of Flame, the holes opened up and began to sound.

Asari blinked at the odd 'flute', but had to admit it sounded beautiful. Especially when it was accompanied by the skilled playing of the young Storm.

There was no set song list...the two played what they wanted in complete harmony with each other. No words needed to be spoken between them.

It almost made Kyouya jealous... except he knew very well his princess only had eyes for him, and that Hayato would rather be her knight than her lover.

"I... had no idea she could play the flute."

Kyouya smirked at Giotto.

"When she received her new staff, it came with an upgrade. She commands the winds as if they were a very part of her, and she uses them to direct the sound of the flute. It helps her ability in echolocation," said Kyouya smugly.

But it is the effect of Sakura's Flames, dancing merrily along with the music that have the most impact.

It was the first time in a very long time Giotto had ever seen his allies relax.

It made the entire ball a smashing success.

* * *

It has been almost a month since Sakura's abrupt arrival, and there was some fear that they would have to wait for Verde and the others to make some sort of device to bring them back.

However a month to the day since she arrived, Sakura felt something in her Hyper Intuition.

"I think our time is almost up," she told Chrome once the other girl was properly awake.

Chrome blinked.

"Are you sure?"

"I can sense it. We have very little to wait before we return home," said Sakura.

"I'll warn the others," said Chrome.

While they hadn't intended it as such, most of her Knights had collected a few...souvenirs... while in the past. Like Hayato, who now had several books that were either destroyed or lost, and no longer in print. Giotto had been amused enough to let him have their copies, since most of them he could buy replacements for.

The news was met with mixed feelings. There was both relief...and some disappointment.

Relief, because they would _hopefully_ be going home soon... and disappointment because they were having such fun.

Still, it wouldn't do to make everyone in their time wait. Plus, most of them were missing modern conveniences...like internet.

And don't get her started on the etiquette training and all the other crap Giotto insisted on teaching her. Between him and Fon, Sakura happily crashed onto her bed every night.

At least the Vongola rings were unsealed, and Sakura had passed the "ascension" test which meant she took her place in the Throne of the Sky.

She could feel it in her bones... the time was coming that they would return home soon. As such, most of her knights took position nearby and Fon took his spot on Sakura's shoulder.

"I suppose this is goodbye, grandfather," said Sakura to Giotto.

At least she could see now...even if things were still a bit blurry without her glasses on. Honestly, she mostly only wore them when she was training with Fon or learning to read. Half the time she forgot to wear them, to Kyouya's annoyance.

The sooner they went home, the sooner Verde could get to work on some proper contact lenses. At least then she wouldn't always be fumbling for her glasses.

Giotto grimaced at the title, but smiled.

"You are too adorable! I'm really going to miss you, little one," said Giotto in Japanese.

Being around Sakura and the others had forced the Guardians (save for Asari) to become properly fluent in the language. Sakura accepted the hug with the ease of long practice. Honestly, why did people insist on hugging her so much?

(To be fair, she often did the same to Fon or the other Arcobaleno. They were the very definition of "cuddle-sized".)

"Because you enjoyed having us around?" she joked.

"No, because you're the only one who can get Daemon and Alaude to stop fighting with a single pout and not look totally ridiculous," he said mock seriously.

Honestly, the month of having Sakura and her Knights in the manor was the most peaceful he'd had since he found his Guardians. Daemon enjoyed provoking the Cloud far too much and the damage expenses were almost certainly going to kill him at the rate they destroyed things.

However after she arrived, all he had to do to calm things down was send her in and the two would stop fighting. Her pout was a weapon in itself, and it was absolutely hilarious to see his big bad Guardians take one look at the "sweet, innocent" Decimo and come to a mutual agreement of a cease fire.

Mostly because the _one_ time they didn't, she beat the crap out of them both with some highly advanced martial arts moves and _made_ them stop.

Giotto hadn't laughed that hard in years, seeing Alaude and Daemon laying prone on the ground, bruises all over and Sakura leaning with her staff at her side and her Cloud watching the entire thing with a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

What he didn't know was that Fon had recorded the entire thing to enjoy later.

Alaude never dismissed the "Blind Princess" as harmless ever again.

It was time.

Sakura and the others could feel the effects wearing off, as something latched onto them and took hold.

She smiled at the first generation, and waved goodbye.

With a loud poof of smoke, the group was gone.

* * *

Fon blinked at the familiar sight of Verde's lab. However he knew something _must_ have gone wrong, because last he checked he was sitting on Sakura's shoulder.

And right now he was on the floor.

"Where are they?" he demanded, looking around. Because the only one he saw from their group on the device was himself.

"We don't know. It was _supposed_ to bring you all back at once," said Verde. He scowled. "I'll tell Reborn to have another...word...with that idiot."

Fon was not happy...and then he held his head as he got flashes of _something_.

"You have got to be kidding me," he said in exasperation.

"What?" asked Shōichi.

"They're in the time before we were cursed," said Verde, grimacing.

"Well at least we know _when_ they are..." said Fon.

"Yes, but we can't retrieve them or send any of us back," said Verde. "The risk of a paradox is too high."

"How do you know when they are?" asked Spanner, with his usual lollipop in his mouth.

"Because I remember _every_ mission we took before we were cursed... and I don't remember having a Cloud double of myself there before now," said Fon.

"That would do it," said Spanner.

"At least we know when to look, if only so we can grab them from the past and bring them home," sighed Shōichi.


	21. Chapter 21

**Beware of trolling Sakura~ ;)**

* * *

Sakura was cheerfully sipping her latte and enjoying her gelato. She and Lambo were the only ones enjoying themselves.

"Seriously, what the hell? I thought we were supposed to come straight home!" complained Hayato crossly.

"Stop barking, little puppy. Your howling is aggravating my ears and if you upset Sakura-hime I will bite you to death," said Kyouya.

On the plus side, he didn't have to deal with Fon for a while.

As if he had a knee-jerk reaction to the very _idea_ of upsetting Sakura, he immediately looked at Sakura-hime. She cheerfully patted him on the head as if to say "good boy", and he calmed down.

"Do we even know when we are?" asked Takeshi, still smiling. Though there was a brittle edge to it.

"We're roughly in the same time period before the Arcobaleno were chosen and cursed to become toddlers," said Sakura. They all looked at her. "What? They like talking to me and they gave me a general idea of when they were cursed. Look on the bright side though... at least we don't have to deal with so many horses."

She liked animals...but she could do without the smell and mess that came from dealing with horses. Besides, cars were faster.

"True," acknowledged Kyouya. He could tolerate horses, but the mess and headache of dealing with the unruly herbivores got on his nerves.

There was however, the not so minor matter of the fact that Sakura-hime was _clearly_ an Active Sky of some power and purity and mafioso by nature are more curious than cats with something shiny.

Which meant they had to spend half of the day dodging random familigia interested in Sakura, since _none_ of them were remotely interested in visiting the Vongola mansion a second time.

Besides they had no idea which Vongola Don was currently in charge, and only an idiot would bring Sakura anywhere near Timoteo.

"We could always hit Mafia Land until they find a way to bring us back," said Hayato.

"Or we could give Fon-sensei a heart attack seeing his double," suggested Sakura impishly.

Kyouya smirked.

"And let's not forget the chaos we could cause by seeing Reborn and the others before they were cursed, and mentioning things only they would know!" she added.

"How would we find them anyway?" asked Takeshi.

Sakura grinned.

* * *

"...Okay, I'll bite. How the hell did you manage to not only track down Verde but follow him straight to their meeting?" asked Hayato baffled.

She tapped her headphones and glasses.

Kyouya sighed.

"It doesn't _just_ track Sakura-hime. There's also an auto-locate function that leads you straight to Verde's current lab in the event that you need repairs done to anything he gives you."

"So why didn't you use your goggles to find him?" asked Takeshi.

"Because my glasses have a little mini-map that works together with the headphones to tell me how far Verde is and what direction. That...and Verde never put that function in Kyouya's goggles."

Verde wasn't an idiot. If he ever did something to piss off the Cloud then it only made sense that Kyouya would find a way to use such a function to track him down and come after him. So he didn't bother to add it.

Sakura was another story. He _liked_ having her around.

"So how should we do this?" asked Hayato.

"Well we could drop in unexpectedly, likely getting shot in the process and then deal with that..." started Sakura.

"Or?" asked Takeshi.

"Or we could put a minor illusion on Kyouya and send him in as Fon after we kidnap him for a good laugh," said Sakura.

"I vote we kidnap Fon," grinned Takeshi.

"I agree, it would be hilarious to see his face when we get home if we do," said Hayato grinning.

"So we're settled?" asked Ryohei, already grinning.

"We kidnap the Strongest Storm," said Kyouya smirking evilly. He _might_ be able to pull off at pretending to be Fon. At least long enough to infiltrate the others.

* * *

 _Two days later..._

The first clue something odd was about to happen was when he came across someone who looked like he could be his twin. Or very close to it.

The second came when he registered exactly what his double said.

" _I will bite you to death, carnivore."_

In Mandarin, no less.

The look on his face must have amused his double, because there was a wild grin that looked entirely foreign on that face.

It was so baffling that he completely failed to register the presence behind him. That or they were very, very good at hiding themselves.

There was an almost lightning quick jab on a pressure point he knew caused someone to black out, and he knew no more for at least an hour.

Sakura caught Fon who had the most amusing bewildered look on his face.

"Please tell me we have that expression on camera."

Hayato came and flashed her a thumbs up on that regard, holding a camera that had a very thorough zoom function.

No way was Fon living down that expression. Sakura looked positively gleeful at the prospect.

"We are so pranking him with a dark room when he comes to," said Sakura with mischief.

She was a blind fighter, and Fon had yet to develop any technique that would allow him to do the same. He had to improvise as he went after meeting her.

Kyouya's grin is evil, but he quickly schooled it into something that could _almost_ pass for Fon's usual serene smile. It was hard for him to keep it that way though, because he kept imagining Fon's reactions when he was confronted with Sakura-hime in a trolling mood.

Either way he doesn't have much time. This was going to be hilarious, and if he was really lucky he'd be able to bite one of the future Arcobaleno to death.

Hibird, in order to maintain the prank, stays on Sakura's shoulder next to her familiar Kero.

The animal still had yet to show off any interesting traits outside of being able to fly and talk with a Kansai accent. It was up for debate whether or not the small animal would _fully_ replicate the creature it emulated so much.

* * *

Fon woke up all at once, primarily due to his training. He can tell immediately he is not blindfolded, but the room is naturally too dark to properly see. The limited light from the door was hardly sufficient.

Hearing breathing other than his own, he attempted to find out who was there through a combination of Chi and Flames.

Whoever it was happened to be very good at hiding, because he still couldn't sense a damn thing.

Needless to say he almost jumped when the light is suddenly thrown on, flooding the room and he finds a rather adorable girl in her mid-teens almost right in his face.

She is grinning for some odd reason, and he is baffled to explain why.

He also felt like he should know her, but for the life of him he couldn't place her.

" _Where am I?"_ he asked in Italian.

" _You're about five blocks from your meeting area. Sorry about the abrupt kidnapping but we wanted to prank you and the others without getting shot for it,"_ she replied in Mandarin.

Fon blinks twice. The accent is almost identical to his particular dialect, which shouldn't be possible considering how remote his clan was.

" _Prank us?"_ he repeated in the same tongue, unconsciously relaxing.

She was smiling, and something in his heart seemed to calm down. She wasn't interested in killing him or holding him hostage... he could sense she was mostly holding him for a quick prank that was right up Renato's alley. A small, measured dose of chaos to brighten the day.

" _Long story short we had a mishap involving time travel, and when we realized_ when _we were, we couldn't resist finding you and the others. It's not every day you meet the_ I Presceti Sette _in their prime,"_ she replied.

Fon doesn't know why, but he preened like a great cat.

He rather calmly accepts the tea (how did they know what his preferred tea was?) and waits.

He didn't have long...he could feel Renato's annoyance from where he was sitting and he could sense them coming up the stairs.

The girl looked at her friends.

" _Should we do the whole 'darkened room, blind fighter' prank and tie them all up or is that going too far?"_ she asked in Italian.

" _If you do that hime, then we're hiding in the other room behind the steel door,"_ deadpanned her Storm in the same language.

Seeing the nods of agreement, Fon hid a smile behind his sleeve.

" _Can you do it anyway so I have some blackmail material on them later?"_ asked Fon. Seeing her beam at him, the others all sighed before going to hide in the other room. They dragged Fon with them, and he couldn't wait to see the show.

Thanks in part to some "wireless cameras" and a device they called a "laptop", Fon is able to watch as the young girl not only ambushed the others, but does so in such a short amount of time it's almost embarrassing.

Seeing her tie up the others had him holding back a laugh, because he knows Hojojutsu when he sees it.

At least he didn't have to suffer the same indignity when he woke up.

" _Hold old are you anyway?"_ he asked, because this was hilarious.

" _I'm almost sixteen, and I used to be blind. I'm still getting used to seeing though,"_ she replied rather cheerfully.

" _How long until they wake up?"_ asked the Storm.

" _More than long enough for us to make so many copies they'll never be able to find them all. I'm almost tempted to make it look like the Sun is cuddling the Cloud,"_ admitted the girl.

Except she knew Reborn would likely strangle her for it when they got home if she did.

However that didn't stop her for planting the _idea_ in Fon's head and convincing him to do it... he could handle Reborn being snippy for such embarrassing blackmail material. And seeing the gleam in his eyes, she smirks.

" _I want copies,"_ said Fon.

" _Give us fifteen minutes and you can have all the copies you want,"_ she replied grinning.

Fon gets to work. Renato was going to be pissed/horrified, but this was too rare an opportunity to pass up.

Renato and the others wake up half an hour later (and far too many blackmail pictures to count) and he starts swearing vehemently.

Mostly because he is perfectly aware of what this particular way of tying people up was called and what it was used for. And he is not happy to be so _intimately_ close with the Lackey.

And if he's pissed, then Skull is outright horrified.

The girl dissolves into helpless laughter at the sight.

It takes the pacifying power of Sakura to keep the future Arcobaleno (save for Fon who found the entire thing amusing, considering he was spared the worst of it) from trying to strangle them all.

Fortunately, she had actual proof she was telling the truth about being from the future.

Verde recognizes his own work, even if he hasn't seen this level of technology yet. He is rather giddy at the possibilities for when it catches up.

Kyouya apparently lasted all of fifteen minutes before being busted, and then managed to fight all but Reborn to a standstill.

Needless to say he was not pleased Sakura decided to take pictures of him looking very much like a trussed-up cat, especially when Hibird promptly sits on his head.

" _The Principessa in a trolling mood is scary..."_ said Hayato staring.

Sakura _smiled_ at him, and he openly shuddered. He would follow her to hell and back, but there were some things no sane person would want to deal with.

" _Well I had to pick_ something _up from having Reborn as a tutor..."_ she said laughing.

Renato eyes the girl who had taken them all out with laughable ease with a speculative look.

It was very hard to impress _him_ , but the girl had done it in less than an hour and didn't seem to care.

To be fair, he wasn't expecting to be ambushed by a formerly blind fighter that used sound to locate her targets and was able to hide herself so completely that even FON couldn't sense her right behind him.

Though he did have one question...

" _Why exactly does that Cloud look like an almost carbon copy of Fon?"_

The girl beamed at him, which almost made him think of Luce, but this was more sincere and almost terrifying. That smile of hers could be used as a weapon.

Said Cloud growled at them all, rather pissed off because they had dared to tie him up. He had been released soon enough by the Rain with the fake smile, but the teen was still irritable about the whole thing.

Fortunately for the adults, his girlfriend promptly placed herself in his lap, which seemed to do wonders for his bad mood. The possessive way he wrapped his arms around her waist said volumes.

"She's mine, so keep your paws off or else."

" _Fon is Kyouya's grandfather on his mother's side."_

Fon blinked and really looked at the irritable Cloud.

" _Of course if I hadn't met him, I never would have meet Fon-sensei,"_ she continued. She smirked at Renato and the others. _"You can blame him for why I was able to take you all out so easily. He's the one who taught me how to hide my Flames and Chi while playing hide and seek."_

Seeing the looks the others were giving him, Fon gave them all a serene smile while internally laughing his ass off.

If this girl really was to be his future granddaughter-in-law then he wouldn't mind that at all. She had a delightful sense of humor and showed the appropriate amount of dedication to the dying art of Bojutsu.

Besides, she was positively adorable and being around her made him feel relaxed and at ease.


End file.
